St George's 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 Oakdale, a suburb 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 ...

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 1959–60 and has been

Grade II Listed 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, H ...

since 1998.

History

The first purpose-built church to serve the population of Oakdale was erected in 1932 and is now in use as Oakdale Library. As the suburb's population rapidly grew and Oakdale became its own parish in 1938, a larger place of worship became necessary. The earliest efforts towards a new church dated to 1939 when £2,000 was bequeathed by Miss Gaskell and a one-acre site at Darby's Lane was donated by Mr. R. Aireton. In 1947, the ''

Western Gazette The ''Western Gazette'' is a regional newspaper, published every Thursday in Yeovil, Somerset, England. The newspaper and digital operation is based at the Yeovil Innovation Centre. History The ''Western Gazette'' was founded in 1863 in Yeov ...

'' reported that Oakdale was in "urgent need" of a new church as the original St George's was consistently overcrowded. Enough funds for a replacement had been raised during the 1950s and the designs of St George's were drawn up by Robert Potter and Richard Hare. The foundation stone was laid on 25 April 1959 by

Maurice Key (John) Maurice Key (4 June 1905 – 21 December 1984) was the Anglican Bishop of Sherborne then Truro in the third quarter of the 20th century. He was educated at Rossall School and Pembroke College, Cambridge and ordained in 1928. Beginning his ...

Bishop of Sherborne The Bishop of Sherborne is an episcopal title which takes its name from the market town of Sherborne in Dorset, England. The see of Sherborne was established in around 705 by St Aldhelm, the Abbot of Malmesbury. This see was the mother diocese ...

and the church was completed in 1960 and consecrated in July.

Architecture

St George's is built of red brick with copper sheeting on its roof. The building has a

cruciform 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 ...

plan with short transepts and a tower to the west. The church shares architectural similarities with the Church of the Ascension in

Crownhill Crownhill is a suburb in northern Plymouth, in the county of Devon, England. It is the home to Crownhill fort, a popular tourist attraction and museum. According to the 2021 census, Crownhill has a population of 6,411 people. 3,089 are male ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, which was also designed by Potter and Hare, and opened in 1958.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

describes St George's as a "beautifully detailed and crafted church" which displays influences of

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect, one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishm ...

and the

Liturgical Movement The Liturgical Movement was a 19th-century and 20th-century movement of scholarship for the reform of worship. It began in the Catholic Church and spread to many other Christian churches including the Anglican Communion, Lutheran and some other Pro ...

References

External links

St George's Church Oakdale website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's Church, Oakdale Grade II listed churches in Dorset Church of England church buildings in Dorset Buildings and structures completed in 1960 Churches in Poole