St Aldhelm's Church is a private church in

Lytchett Heath Lytchett Heath is an area of woods and farmland on the Dorset Heaths between the villages of Lytchett Matravers, Lytchett Minster and the hamlet of Beacon Hill in the county of Dorset, England.Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 ''Landranger'' map series, N ...

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 designed by George Crickmay for

Lord Eustace Cecil Lord Eustace Brownlow Henry (Gascoyne-) Cecil (24 April 1834 – 3 July 1921) was a British, Conservative Party politician. Cecil was the youngest son of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury by his first wife Frances Gascoyne and was ...

and built in 1898. It 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. The lychgate of the churchyard is also Grade II listed.

History

St Aldhelm's was built in 1898 at the sole expense of

for use as a private church and to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. It was designed by George Crickmay and dedicated 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.

John Wordsworth John Wordsworth (21 September 1843 – 16 August 1911) was an English Anglican bishop and classical scholar. He was Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1883 to 1885, and Bishop of Salisbury ...

, on 31 May 1898. Lord Cecil first purchased a large area of land at Lytchett Heath in 1874 and built a residence, Lytchett Heath House, there in 1875.

Architecture

St Aldhelm's is built of rock-faced and smooth ashlar stone 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 ...

. Designed to accommodate 60 persons, it is made up of 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 ...

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 ...

, north

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 ...

and south porch. The west turret contains eight bells, which were added to commemorate Lord Cecil's 80th birthday in 1914. The interior uses a mixture of Purbeck,

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

and Tisbury stone. Many of the internal fittings are of oak, carved by

Harry Hems Harry Hems (12 June 1842 – 5 January 1916) was an English architectural and ecclesiastical sculptor who was particularly inspired by Gothic architecture and a practitioner of Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival. He founded and ran a la ...

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. The font is 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 ...

with a Purbeck shaft. In 2001, five stained glass windows based on Saint Aldhelm were designed and made for the church by Jude Tarrant.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Aldhelm's Church, Lytchett Heath Church of England church buildings in Dorset Grade II* listed churches in Dorset 1898 establishments in England