St Luke's Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church in

West Orchard West Orchard is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It is situated in the Blackmore Vale in the North Dorset administrative district, approximately halfway between the towns of Shaftesbury and Sturminster ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England. Most of the church dates to a rebuild of 1876–77 to the designs of

Thomas Henry Wyatt Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1870–73 and being awarded its Royal Gold Medal for A ...

, but the chancel is 15th-century. The church is a Grade II listed building.

History

The earlier church at West Orchard was described in the 1859

Post Office Directory Kelly's Directory (or more formally, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory) was a trade directory in England that listed all businesses and tradespeople in a particular city or town, as well as a general directory of postal addresses o ...

of Dorsetshire as a "small Gothic structure". In 1650, it was recorded as being a

chapel-of-ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...

to St Andrew's Church at

Fontmell Magna Fontmell Magna is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England. It is situated in the Blackmore Vale, close to the chalk hills of Cranborne Chase, on the A350 road south of Shaftesbury and north of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census ...

. In 1876–77, the church was rebuilt at the expense of Lady Westminster and Lord Wolverton. Lady Westminster also donated an adjoining plot of land for an extension of the churchyard. The approximate cost of rebuilding the church was £1,500. Plans were drawn up by

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and Mr. T. B. Miles of Shaftesbury was hired as the builder. The east end of the earlier church was retained to form the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

. The church reopened with a public dedication on 17 July 1877. An early Holy Communion was held and both Rev. R Lowndes, the Canon of

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

and rector of

Sturminster Newton Sturminster Newton is a town and civil parish in the Blackmore Vale area of Dorset, England. It is situated on a low limestone ridge in a meander of the River Stour. The town is at the centre of a large dairy agriculture region, around which ...

, and the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

, William Thomson, preached during the morning service. In 1952, West Orchard was transferred to the parish of

East Orchard East Orchard is a small village and parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies in the Blackmore Vale within the North Dorset administrative district. It is situated roughly midway between the hilltop town of Shaftesbury and the ri ...

. Repair work was carried out to the church in c. 1958.

Architecture

St Luke's is built of green stone from Semley Hill, with

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

dressings. The roofs are covered with Donhead tiles and embellished with stone copings and finials. The church is made up of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, north and south aisles, chancel, south porch and north-east

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

. The west end of the church has a double

bell-cot A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

of Bath stone. The chancel has been dated to the late 15th century. The east wall of the vestry contains a reinserted 15th-century window of the same design as those in the chancel. The church's windows are filled with Cathedral glass. The chancel is paved with encaustic tiles from Maw & Co of London and contains a

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

of mosiac work. Many of the fittings are contemporary with the 1876–77 rebuild, including the stone pulpit, the font of Caen stone and the brass lectern. The seats in the nave are of stained and varnished deal, and the choir and chancel seats of carved pitched pine. The altar railing is of oak, on polished brass and iron standards. The churchyard has two fonts by its gate piers; one of round shape, dating to the 12th century, and the other of octagonal shape, dated to the 15th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Luke's Church, West Orchard Church of England church buildings in Dorset Grade II listed churches in Dorset