St Aldhelm's Church is a former

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church in Boveridge,

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was built at the expense of Richard Brouncker in 1838 and became redundant in 1980. The

Grade II listed building 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 ...

is now a private residence.

History

A chapel serving Boveridge is known to have existed as early as 1595, when one was mentioned in a will. During the early 16th century, Thomas Hooper, the then-owner of the Boveridge estate, provided the village with an

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

. His son, Edward Hooper, who died in 1661, bequeathed additional funds and land for the benefit of three poor widows. He also bequeathed an additional sum to provide the village with a minister to bring Christian teachings to the poorer inhabitants at the village chapel. In 1708, a new chapel was built near Boveridge Farm by Edward Hooper and services were held by the vicar of

Cranborne Cranborne is a village in East Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the parish had a population of 779, remaining unchanged from 2001. The appropriate electoral ward is called 'Crane'. This ward includes Wimborne St. Giles in the west and sout ...

. A new church was built at the expense of Richard Brouncker of the Boveridge estate in 1838, on a site considered more convenient for the inhabitants. The church underwent restoration in 1896 for an approximate cost of £100, with the work being carried out by Mr. T. Coombe of Cranborne. It was reopened and dedicated to St. Aldhelm 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 Milto ...

, the Ven. Francis Sowter, on 8 October 1896. The restoration included repainting the walls with distemper, cleaning and repairing the windows, and replacing the stone flooring with wooden blocks. The height of 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 ...

floor was raised from that 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 ...

and the communion table received its own platform. The church's square pews, which had originally come from St Thomas' Church in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

, were replaced with new benches of carved oak, which provided seating for approximately 100 people. The wooden communion rails were also removed and a new pulpit and reading desk constructed from them. St Aldhelm's was declared redundant by the Church of England on 13 October 1980. The Church Commissioners were granted permission in 1981 to change the building's use from redundant church to single dwelling. The building was then sold to a private owner and a conversion scheme granted planning permission in 1982. In 1990, permission was granted for further alterations and extension work to be made.

Architecture

St Aldhelm's is built of banded brick and flint with quoins and dressings of brick and ashlar stone, and slate roofs. It is made up of a nave, chancel, north chapel and north-west tower. The square tower is surmounted by a stone

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

, made up of four columns and a dome, and contains one bell. Prior to its redundancy, fittings recorded at the church included a font of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

, believed to date to 1838, 16th and 17th century penelling reset on the walls of the chancel and nave, and arms of the Hooper and Brouncker families. A stone wall tablet of 1825 to Henry Brouncker and others of the Brouncker family was located in the north chapel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Aldhelm's Church, Boveridge Church of England church buildings in Dorset Grade II listed churches in Dorset Former churches in Dorset Churches completed in 1838 Redundant churches