All Saints Church is a former

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church in Dorchester,

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England. Designed by

Benjamin Ferrey Benjamin Ferrey List of Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA (1 April 1810 – 22 August 1880) was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic revival architecture, Gothic Re ...

and built in 1843–45, the church is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The site of All Saints is considered to have been occupied by a church since the Norman period, although the earliest records date to the 12th century. The original church is believed to have been destroyed by fire in 1613 and subsequently rebuilt. A decision was made to rebuild the church in the mid-19th century, to the designs of

. Demolition of the previous church began in August 1843 and the foundation stone of the new one laid by the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...

, the Right Rev. Edward Denison, on 4 October 1843. The church's construction was carried out by local labour and assisted by the churchwarden Arthur Henry Dyke Acland, who also acted as "honorary architect".Sherborne Mercury - Consecration of All Saints' Church, Dorchester - 10 May 1845 - page 4 The new church was consecrated by the Bishop of Salisbury on 7 May 1845. As further funds were required, the church's tower was unfinished and in need of a spire. Work later commenced on heightening the tower in 1851 and the spire was added in 1852. All Saints was made redundant on 13 November 1970 and subsequently sold on 8 November 1972 to Dorchester Borough Council for use as an archaeological store for the

Dorset County Museum The Dorset Museum (also known as the Dorset Museum & Art Gallery) is located in Dorchester, Dorset, England. It was known as the Dorset County Museum until 2021. Founded in 1846, the museum covers the county of Dorset's history and environment. ...

Architecture

All Saints is built of local limestone with

Ham stone Hamstone is a honey-coloured building stone from Ham Hill, Somerset, England. It is a well-cemented medium to coarse grained limestone characterised by marked bedding planes of clay inclusions and less well-cemented material which weather dif ...

ashlar dressings and slate roofs, in the

Early English style English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

. It is made up of a four-bay nave, north and south aisles, chancel, vestry and north-west tower. Much of the church's 1843-45 furnishings were created and gifted by local tradesmen and other benefactors. The octagonal font was carved from a block of Portland stone by Mr. Gregory of

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

. The church contains an arcade of seven arches of

Caen stone Caen stone () is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ...

, which depict the commandments and texts of Holy Scripture by Mr. William Osmond of Salisbury. From the earlier church there are preserved the elaborate tomb, with effigy, of Matthew Chubb (d. 1617) and the achievement of arms of Charles II.''RCHME An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset: Volume 2, South east'' (HMSO 1970)

References

{{Reflist

External links

''RCHME An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset: Volume 2, South east'' (HMSO 1970), pp.104–132. Dorchester: Ecclesiastical (1): The Parish Church of All Saints (online version British-History.ac.uk)
Former churches in Dorset Grade II* listed churches in Dorset Church of England church buildings in Dorset Buildings and structures in Dorchester, Dorset