St Hubert's Church is a 13th-century

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

Corfe Mullen Corfe Mullen is a village in Dorset, England, on the north-western urban fringe of the South East Dorset conurbation. The community had a population of 10,133 at the 2011 Census. It is served by six churches, four pubs, five schools, a libra ...

, a district of

Wimborne Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Pool ...

, in the

ceremonial county Ceremonial counties, formally known as ''counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'', are areas of England to which lord-lieutenant, lord-lieutenants are appointed. A lord-lieutenant is the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch's repres ...

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 ...

, on the south coast of England. It 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 ...

and one of two churches in the Anglican parish of Corfe Mullen that form "one church family" offering a mix of "traditional and contemporary worship". The church is a popular venue for weddings.''SNHC''
at parishofcorfemullen.church. Retrieved 4 March 2021.

Location

The church is located in farmland in the valley of the River Stour on the corner of Knoll Lane and the

Blandford Blandford Forum ( ) is a market town in Dorset, England, on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour, north-west of Poole. It had a population of 10,355 at the United Kingdom 2021 census, 2021 census. The town is notable for its Georgian archit ...

Road (B3074), just before its junction with the A31. To the south runs the track bed of the old

Somerset and Dorset Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR, also known as the S&D, S&DR or SDJR), was an English railway line Joint railway, jointly owned by the Midland Railway (MR) and the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) that grew to connect Bat ...

, now part of the North Dorset Trailway. It is part of the original village of Corfe Mullen and is separated from the main conurbation which is on the ridge of

Corfe Hills Corfe Hills School is a co-educational upper school in Broadstone, Poole, Dorset, England, in the urban fringe between Poole and Wimborne. The school became an academy in 2011. The school serves Corfe Mullen, Broadstone, Wimborne, Merley and S ...

in the southeast of the parish and served by St. Nicholas Church.''Church of St Hubert''
at historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2021.''St Huberts History''
at parishofcorfemullen.com. Retrieved 4 March 2021.

History

The church dates to the 13th century and was built on "the first reliably dry ground south of the River Stour" using locally quarried

heathstone Carrstone (or carstone, also known as Silsoe, heathstone, ironstone or gingerbread) is a sedimentary sandstone conglomerate formed during the Cretaceous period. It varies in colour from light to dark rusty ginger. Used as a building stone it can be ...

. But Christians may have worshipped here even earlier at the site marked by the cross in the churchyard.''St. Hubert's Church, Corfe Mullen''
at dorsetbuildingstone.org. Retrieved 4 March 2021. The original church was known as St. Nicholas, the name transferring to its sister church when that was built in Corfe Hills in the late 20th century. It probably began life as a single storey rectangular building with 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 ...

and

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

but, in early 14th century it was enhanced by the addition of the present church tower. For centuries thereafter it changed little and the next major expansion was not carried out until 1841, when the south

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

was added, the organ gallery created and the north porch converted into the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

. Until 1857, the church acted 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 ...

Sturminster Marshall Sturminster Marshall is a village and civil parish in the east of Dorset in England, situated on the River Stour between Blandford Forum and Poole. The parish had a population of 1,895 at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,969 at the 2011 Census a ...

. In the last century, work has focused on restoration and redecoration and conservation of this listed building continues to be supported by the "Friends of St. Hubert's". Above the chancel and nave, the roof incorporates a number of highly decorative

roof boss In architecture, a boss is a decorative knob on a ceiling, wall or sculpture. Bosses can often be found in the ceilings of buildings, particularly at the keystones at the intersections of a rib vault. In Gothic architecture, such roof bosses (o ...

es including one with a red rose and one with the initials "ER" suggesting that the roof was built during the reign of

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

. There is also a 17th-century communion table with the royal arms of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

Churchyard

The churchyard is notable for its ancient

yew tree Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus b ...

, said to be 1,000 years old, and the stepped base of a 14th-century cross said believed to be located on the site of early Christian worship. A new shaft and cross was added in 1925; not long afterwards the original cross was found, buried, and has now been built into the west wall of the tower.

St Nicholas' Church

During the 20th century, Corfe Mullen expanded with hundreds of homes being built on the heathland of

to the south of the original village on the plains. As a result, in 1995, a new Anglican church, St. Nicholas', was built on the high street of the conurbation and Corfe Mullen has since been a parish of two church buildings.

Today

There is a range of worship styles, both traditional and contemporary. Under normal circumstances, a traditional morning or communion service is held fortnightly at St. Hubert's at 8.45 am on Sundays. A more contemporary style service is then held at 10 am in St. Nicholas' Church. The combined congregation numbers around 150 adults. St. Hubert's is a popular baptism and wedding venue. During the pandemic lockdown, St. Hubert's was closed and Sunday services were instead live streamed at 10 am from St Nicholas. In addition, there is a range of online activities, both social and spiritual.

Gallery

File:St Hubert's Church, Corfe Mullen - geograph.org.uk - 963367.jpg, St. Hubert's Church from the North Dorset Trailway File:Church at Corfe Mullen - geograph.org.uk - 37769.jpg, St. Hubert's Church and the A31/B3074 junction

References

External links

Parish of Corfe Mullen: Official Site.

Church of St. Hubert
at British Listed Buildings.
St Huberts History
at SNHC.

at Dorset OPC with image and information about the church.

at Dorset Building Stone with information on the construction of the church. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Hubert's Church, Corfe Mullen Church of England church buildings in Dorset Grade II* listed churches in Dorset St Hubert