Listed Building record MDO17568 - Parish Church of St Nicholas, Kimmeridge

A parish church thought to have been built in the twelfth century, with some thirteenth-century additions, but restored and largely rebuilt in the nineteenth century. The south door way is of twelfth-century date, with roll mouldings, and the south porch is thirteenth century.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 91687993) Ch (NAT)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 1, 133 (Monograph). SDO148.

‘(1) THE PARISH CHURCH (dedication unknown) stands at the N. end of the village. The walls are of stone rubble with ashlar dressings and the roofs are covered with stone slates. The chancel and nave are structurally undivided; the Nave is of 12th-century origin and retains the original S. doorway. There was formerly a 13th-century chancel arch, the moulded voussoirs of which remain loose in the churchyard, but the Chancel and the whole of the N. wall and part of the S. wall of the nave have been rebuilt at various dates since the Reformation. In the 15th century a bell-cote and a buttress were added to the W. wall. The South Porch is of early 13th-century origin. Extensive rebuilding took place in 1872, and the Vestry is modern.
Architectural Description—The Chancel and Nave form a simple rectangular building (56 ft. by 16 ft.) with a bell-cote over the W. gable. The E. and S. windows are of the late 19th century. The S. doorway has roll-moulded jambs, a semi-circular-arched head of a single roll-moulded order, moulded imposts and a chamfered label. At the S.W. corner is the base of a destroyed buttress. The W. windows are single two-centred lights of the early 19th century arranged in two tiers to accommodate a former W. gallery. The W. buttress is of two weathered stages with a moulded plinth. The bell-cote has an arched opening with four-centred head, but all the upper part is rebuilt. The South Porch (8 ft. by 4½ ft.) has an outer archway with two-centred head of two chamfered orders and continuous jambs.
Fittings—Bell: one, inscribed 'ave g[racia plena]', 15th-century. Brass: in nave, in floor, of Richard Clavell, 1637/8, small inscription plate. Coffin-lids: in churchyard—S.E. of chancel, (1) tapered and hollow-chamfered slab with traces of an eight-armed cross, 13th-century; S. of chancel, (2) tapered and moulded slab with traces of a cross on a Calvary, 15th-century; E. of S. porch, (3) tapered slab with plain top, of uncertain date. Communion Table: with turned legs, fluted bearers and plain stretchers, early 17th-century, with modern top. Font: rough circular stone bowl, probably 12th-century, set on modern stem and base. Inscriptions and Scratchings: on E. jamb of S. doorway, initials, probably c. 1600. Monuments and Floor-slabs. Monuments: in chancel—on N. wall, (1) to William Clavell, 1817, erected by his widow Sophia (Bingham) and his brother, white marble tablet with cornice, urn and shield-of-arms against a grey background; in nave—on S. wall, (2) to Sophia (Bingham), widow of William Clavell, 1841, white marble tablet with cornice against a black background, signed Tyley, Bristol; in churchyard—loose against vestry, (3) to George Foot, 1693, headstone. Floor-slab: in chancel—to Frances Swaine, daughter of Roger Clavill, 1701. Painting: over S. doorway, on rear arch, painted scroll-work border, possibly 16th-century. Plate: cup, 1825, and paten, 1824. Miscellanea: loose in churchyard, mediaeval moulded stones including parts of a 13th-century chancel arch and fragments from 15th-century windows.’

<3> Kimmeridge Church (Monograph). SDO18168.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456585 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 11:19AM