St George's Church, Portland
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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 on the
Isle of Portland The Isle of Portland is a tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. The southern tip, Portland Bill, lies south of the resort of Weymouth, Dorset, Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier ...
, built between 1754 and 1766 to replace St. Andrew's which had fallen into disuse and was no longer suitable as a place of worship. During the 1960s a restoration of the church took place under the stewardship of a group formed to protect the church. It then came under the care of the
Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...
, which continues to the present. No longer retained for regular worship, services are nevertheless held twice annually, on
St George's Day Saint George's Day is the Calendar of saints, feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, regions, and cities of which he is the Patronages of Saint George, patron saint, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bu ...
and
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...
.


History

The history of St. George's Church began in August 1753. A committee of Portlanders was formed to decide whether to put further finances into the dilapidated St. Andrew's Church or to erect a new church at a more accessible position. St. Andrew's suffered from an unstable site and was prone to landslips (notably those on the east side of Portland in 1665 and 1734). Within two months a decision was made, with a survey of the old church finding that repairs would be at least half the cost of a new building. A year after the completion of the church, a house was built nearby for the parish clerk, and this building would become The George Inn. The church was closed in 1914 for many reasons, and fell into further disrepair ever since that time. In the 1960s however, the church fell under the protection of a newly formed group, the 'Friends of St George's Church', who were able to restore the church. Now no longer needed for regular worship, the church is now a
redundant church A redundant church, now referred to as a closed church, is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused churche ...
in the care of the
Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...
. It was declared redundant on 16 April 1970, and was
vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property are acquired by some Legal person, person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vest ...
in the Trust on 27 October 1971.


Architecture

Designed by architect and quarry merchant Thomas Gilbert, St George's is regarded as one of the most impressive 18th-century churches in
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 ...
. It is a large church built of
Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...
and has a tower, a nave, transepts, an apse, and a kind of 'abortive dome' over the crossing. The design is reminiscent of the works of
Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...
(particularly the tower, in relation to those of
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
). The windows are arranged in two tiers, all with simple, broad raised frames that lack moulding. It is designated as a Grade I
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 ...
. Gilbert is also believed to be the architect of a number of houses within the local area, including the Grade II* Listed Queen Anne House, his own residence built in the 18th century.


See also

*
Grade I listed buildings in Dorset There are over 9,000 Grade I listed buildings in England. This is a list of these buildings and structures in the county of Dorset, grouped first by the two unitary authority areas: first Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, then Dorset. Bou ...
*
List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in South West England The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a Charitable organization, charity whose purpose is to protect certain historic churches at risk, namely those that have been made redundant church, r ...


References

Citations Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's Church, Portland 1754 establishments in England Church of England church buildings in Dorset St George's Church Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust Grade I listed churches in Dorset Redundant churches