Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
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 ...
Grade I listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
building. The oldest parts date from the 11th and 12th centuries, and the tower was built in the 16th century.
Description
Early history
There was a
minster church
Minster is an honorific title given to particular churches in England, most notably York Minster in Yorkshire, Westminster Abbey in London and Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire.
The term ''minster'' is first found in royal foundation charte ...
, perhaps a wooden building, here in the 8th century. There is some evidence that the site of the present church was at that time the river bed, and that the Saxon church was situated nearer North Street to the west."History" St Mary's, Charminster. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
The oldest parts of the present building, parts of the east wall of the
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 ...
The south aisle was extended in the 15th century, by the Trenchard family of
Wolfeton House
Wolfeton House (sometimes Wolveton House) is an early Tudor and Elizabethan manor house in Dorset, England. It is situated amongst water-meadows north-west of Dorchester not far from the confluence of the rivers Frome and Cerne. It is near to ...
, to form the south chapel, and further extended in the early 16th century. There are
table tomb
A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a deceased person or persons, located within a Christian church. It can take various forms ranging from a simple commemorative plaque or mural tablet affixed to a wall, to a large and ...
s of members of the Trenchard family in the south chapel.
The tower was built in the 16th century by Thomas Trenchard. It has three stages and an
embattled
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...
parapet with seven
gargoyle
In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...
s. The north and south vestries, adjacent to the tower, are also of this period. Thomas Trenchard's spiral monogram is carved on the tower in many places, and on the vestries. The south porch is 16th-century, its arch being reconstructed in the 17th century.
On the north wall of the nave there are areas of stencilled decoration, from the early 16th century, showing strawberries and strawberry leaves.
The font, probably 12th-century, was recut and reshaped in the 15th century.
Later modifications
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 ...
, demolished in the 17th century, was rebuilt about 1838, and the north aisle was rebuilt in the late 19th century. The roofs were replaced in 1895. A new organ was installed about 1953.