Christ Church is 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

Melplash Melplash is a village in western Dorset, England. It is situated on the A3066 road north of Bridport and south of Beaminster. The construction of Christ Church between 1845 and 1846 was funded by James Bandinel (who was at one time secretar ...

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 to the designs of

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 has been 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 ...

since 1984. Today the church is part of the Beaminster Area Team Ministry.

History

Much of the church's expense was donated by James Bandinel in dedication to his father Dr. Bandinel, who served as vicar of Netherbury. The vicar had envisioned the construction of a church to serve Melplash since the 1790s, however he died before he could bring his plans to fruition. Bandinel also gifted the plot of land for the church and financed a permanent endowment.Sherborne Mercury - Laying the foundation stone of the proposed new church at Melplash near Bridport - 24 May 1845 - page 4 The foundation stone was laid by the Revd S. Hay on 15 May 1845 in the presence of 4,000 people and the church built by Mr. Davis of Langport to the designs of

. 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 ...

, the Rt Revd Edward Denison, on 20 October 1846. To serve the educational needs of the village, Bandinel donated further land and paid for the construction of a school adjacent to the church, dated 1849 and now converted into a house. The church's original parsonage, a converted farmhouse at Camesworth also provided by Bandinel, was burnt down in 1882 and replaced with a new residence on a nearby site. A new vicarage was later built adjoining the church in 1924. In 1975, the church underwent internal alterations to allow the nave to be screened off for use as a hall and badminton court.

Architecture

Christ Church is built of local stone with Ham stone dressings and roofs of slate and lead, in a Neo-Norman style. It was built with a

cruciform plan A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

, containing a central tower, four-bay nave, apsidal chancel, north and south transepts, north vestry and south porch.

References

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External links

Beaminster Team Churches website
Churches in Dorset Grade II* listed churches in Dorset Church of England church buildings in Dorset