St Peter's Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church, the parish church in the village of

Portesham Portesham, sometimes also spelt Portisham, is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southwest England, situated in the Dorset Council administrative area approximately northwest of Weymouth, southwest of the county town Dor ...

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 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 ...

. The earliest parts date from the 12th century, and it has suffered comparatively little from restoration.'Portesham', in ''An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, South east'' (London, 1970), pp. 240-246
British History Online. Retrieved 29 May 2022.

Description

History

The church is thought to be built with stone from a local quarry. The earliest parts date from the 12th century; the church of that time probably had a shorter

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 ...

, with north and south aisles, and a shorter

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 ...

. Part of the original north arcade (once leading into a north aisle) survives in the north wall. The present chancel dates from the 13th century, when the nave was lengthened and the tower was built.Reverend Jack Elwin. ''The Parish Church of St Peter, Portesham: a tour through the church''. Booklet obtained at the church in 2019. About 1500 the chancel arch was rebuilt, and the present narrow north and south aisles were built, with two-bay arcades in the eastern part of the nave leading to the aisles. The top stage was added to the tower at this time. The south porch was built later that century. The font, near the door, dates probably from the 13th century. There are two bells in the tower, made in 1607 and 1623.

Chancel

The nave is not quite in line with the chancel, which veers slightly to the south, but the outer walls of the aisles are aligned with the chancel. The

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

dates from the early 16th century. The chancel arch has

squint Squinting is the action of looking at something with partially closed eyes. Squinting is most often practiced by people who suffer from Refractive error, refractive errors of the eye who either do not have or are not using their glasses. Squint ...

s on each side. The side windows of the chancel date from the early 14th century; the stonework of the east window is of the same date as the chancel arch, about 1500.

Interior details

The north aisle was formerly known as the Waddon Aisle, as the people of Waddon, a hamlet east of Portesham, used to worship here. There was formerly a gallery at the west end of the nave, where musicians played; a

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

supporting it can be seen. The gallery was removed in 1872, and a reed organ was installed. This was replaced by an organ in 1895. The present organ, by

Hill, Norman & Beard William Hill & Son & Norman & Beard Limited (commonly known as Hill, Norman and Beard) were a major pipe organ manufacturer originally based in Norfolk. History They were founded in 1916 by the merger of Norman and Beard and William Hill & Son ...

, was installed in the south aisle in 1968.

Living Churchyards project

St Peter's is part of the Living Churchyards project of the

Dorset Wildlife Trust Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) is a wildlife trust covering the county of Dorset, United Kingdom. The trust was founded in 1961 as Dorset Naturalists' Trust, to protect and conserve the wildlife and natural habitats of the county. DWT is one of 4 ...

, in which volunteers from the Trust visit churches in Dorset to advise on managing churchyards with regards to wildlife. The grass remains uncut at times, to allow wild flowers to flourish: more than 70 species have been identified. In 2011 the church won Best New Entry in the Living Churchyards competition, and was runner-up in this category in 2012. In 2013 it won the Bishop's Prize."Living Churchyards project"
''Dorset Wildlife Trust''. Retrieved 30 May 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's Church, Portesham Grade I listed churches in Dorset Church of England church buildings in Dorset