Listed Building record MDO14603 - Parish Church of St Peter, Chetnole

Anglican Parish Church. C13 origin. Tower C15, Porch C17, chancel rebuilt and aisle added 1860-65, architect W Slater. Rubble stone walls, tiled roofs with coped gables.

C13th origin, tower C15th, church rebuilt and aisle added 1860-5, architect W Slater. <2, 3, 4>

Observation during the replacement of the church floor at the West end of the nave suggests that portions of the wall to the C19th rather than C13th as revealed by Auth 2-4. <5>

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1985, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1984, 125 (Serial). SDO84.

Walker, D, 2010, A history and description of St. Peter's Church, Chetnole (Monograph). SDO18256.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 91-92 (Monograph). SDO97.

'(1) PARISH CHURCH OF ST. PETER, formerly a chapel of Yetminster, stands in the village. The walls are of local squared rubble with freestone dressings; the roofs are covered with stone slates and lead. The Nave was built or rebuilt late in the 13th century. The West Tower was added early in the 15th century, but is said to have been rebuilt in 1580. The South Porch was added in the 16th or 17th century. The church was restored in 1860–5, when the Chancel was rebuilt and the North Aisle and arcade added. There was a further restoration in 1897.

Architectural Description—The Nave (41¾ ft. by 18¼ ft.) has a modern N. arcade. In the S. wall are three windows the two easternmost of late 15th-century date and of three cinque-foiled lights with vertical tracery in a two-centred head with moulded reveals and partly restored labels with returned stops; the westernmost window is a late 13th-century lancet-light; the recut late 13th-century S. doorway has chamfered jambs and two-centred head.

The North Aisle is modern, but reset in the E. wall is a 15th-century window of three cinque-foiled lights with tracery in a two-centred head with moulded reveals and label with returned stops.


Chetnole, the Parish Church of St Peter

The West Tower (9¼ ft. square) is of early 15th-century date and of two stages with an embattled parapet, pinnacles and large gargoyles. The tower-arch is two-centred and of two moulded orders. The inner order of the responds has a shaft with a foliated capital and moulded base. The angle-buttresses on the E. side rest on corbelling and carved figure-corbels below the nave roof. The W. window is of three cinque-foiled lights with vertical tracery in a restored two-centred head with a label; the W. doorway has moulded jambs, two-centred arch and label. The bell-chamber has, in each wall, a window of two trefoiled lights with tracery in a two-centred head with a label.

The South Porch has a 16th or 17th-century outer entrance, with chamfered jambs and round arch.
The Roof of the nave is of late 15th-century date and of barrel-form; it is of seven bays each of four panels with moulded ribs and wall-plates with carved paterae; there are foliage-bosses, some modern, at the intersections; the roof has been lowered and the boarding is modern.

Fittings—Bells: three; 1st and 2nd by a London founder, probably William Chamberlain, late 14th-century and inscribed respectively, "Wox Augustinae sonet in aure Dei" and "Sancte Laurenti ora pro nobis". Piscina: In nave—in S. wall, recess with two-centred head, probably piscina. Seating: In chancel— two coffin-stools with turned legs, 17th-century.'

<2> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 149 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1974 (Map). SWX1197.

(ST 6020 0820) St Peters' Church (NAT)

<4> DOE (HRR), 17 Oct 1986, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: District of West Dorset amendment 1986, 11 (Scheduling record). SWX2454.

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1985, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1984, 106 (Serial). SDO84.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 887026 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 16 2025 4:38PM