Christ Church was a

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 West Fordington, 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. It was built in 1845–46 and demolished in 1933.

History

Christ Church was built as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, 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, generally due to trav ...

to the parish church of St George's in Fordington. The vicar of the parish, Rev.

Henry Moule Henry Moule (1801–1880) was a priest in the Church of England and inventor of the dry earth toilet, a type of pail closet. Life Education and priesthood Moule, sixth son of George Moule, solicitor and banker, was born at Melksham, Wiltshir ...

, proposed the construction of the church to serve the increasing population of the time and the regiments of Dorchester Barracks. He had been chaplain to the barracks since 1829 and donated some of the royalties of his 1845 book ''Barrack Sermons'' towards the cost of the new church. Other private contributions were received, alongside grants from the Incorporated and Diocesan Church Building Societies. The site, on the west side of The Grove between the barracks and the boundary of Colliton Park, was given by the

Duchy of Cornwall A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign ...

. Christ Church was designed by Mr. Edward Mondey of Dorchester and built by Mr. John Wellspring of Fordington under Mondey's supervision. The foundation stone was laid by the

Archdeacon of Dorset The Archdeacon of Dorset is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Salisbury, England. He or she is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the four area deaneries: Purbeck, Poole, Wimborne, and Milton & ...

, Robert Buckle, on 29 May 1845, with assistance from Rev. Moule, Rev. Augustus Handley (curate) and other members of the clergy. Despite the poor weather, the ceremony was attended by several hundred members of the public. Christ Church was consecrated 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 ...

, Edward Denison, on 21 October 1846. In 1847, Christ Church became the parish church of the newly formed parish of West Fordington. As the population continued to increase, a temporary chapel of ease, known as the Tin Tabernacle, was erected at the Top O'Town in 1896–97. It was later replaced by the permanent church of St Mary's, which opened in 1912. Christ Church continued to be used for christenings and marriages until 1924, and closed when St Mary's was declared the new parish church of West Fordington in 1929. In 1931, Christ Church's demolition was recommended. That year Mr. Herbert Kendall of

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

drew up plans for proposals to purchase the church, dismantle and then rebuild it at

Ferndown Ferndown is a town and civil parish in Dorset in southern England, immediately to the north of Bournemouth and Poole. The parish, which until 1972 was called ''Hampreston'', includes the communities of Ameysford, Hampreston, Longham, Stapehill ...

. At the time, the growing town required replacement of its 1901 church, St Mary's. However the scheme did not come to fruition and a new church of Kendall's own design was built instead. Christ Church was demolished in 1933. Some of its fittings and furniture were reused by other churches: the font replaced a temporary one at

St Paul's St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

in Weymouth, the altar, pulpit and pews were used in the new St George's in Oakdale, the altar cross and a reading desk went to St George's in Fordington and the bell to the new St Mary's in

Architecture

Christ Church was built in the Early English style and designed to accommodate 400 persons. It had a cruciform plan and was made up of a nave, chancel, transepts, vestry and porch. The southern transept was allocated for the use of Sunday school children and the western region of the nave for use of soldiers at Dorchester Barracks. A turret containing one bell was placed on the west gable. The church had lancet windows in three of the four-bay nave and in other parts of the church. A three-light window was built in the chancel and two-light windows at the end of each transept. The font was built 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 ...

, while other fittings such as the pulpit, reading desk and communion table were of wood. A new organ was opened at the church on 26 January 1862, made by Mr. J. Eagles of London.

References

{{reflist Former churches in Dorset Church of England church buildings in Dorset Demolished churches in England Demolished buildings and structures in Dorset Buildings and structures demolished in 1933