Listed Building record MDO23165 - Parish church, Canford Magna

Late Saxon church with thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century additions. Nave of late Saxon minster church, now chancel of aisled nave and tower added by Augustinian Canons of Bradenstoke Priory in about 1200. South chancel chapel and south chancel aisle remodelled in the fourteenth century. Nave aisles and other alterations made in the fifteenth century. Nave extended westward 1829 by Edward Blore, remodelled 1876-8.

Parish Church of Canford Magna, dedication unknown. Late Anglo-Saxon minster church, possibly dating from about 1050, of which the core of the former nave survives as the present chancel. The nave, aisles and tower were added about 1200, with further additions in the 14th and 19th centuries.

Taylor (5) states that none of the features of the former nave present clearly non-Norman workmanship. <1-4>

Le Pard, Gordon, 1998, Medieval sundials in Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 119, 74 (Article in serial). SDO21411.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 2, 192-5 (Monograph). SDO149.

‘(6) THE PARISH CHURCH of Canford Magna, dedication unknown (Plate 117), stands in Canford Park 1¼ m. S.E. of Wimborne Minster (032988). The walls are of carstone and the roofs are covered with tiles.
Historical evidence suggests that Canford was the site of a minster of pre-Conquest type served by a small ecclesiastical community (see Preface, p. xlv). The earliest architectural remains bear this out. The present Chancel (originally the nave) has contemporary arches which led to the N. and S. chapels (or porticus), now destroyed, indicating a cruciform church. The W. wall of the original nave has not survived, nor is there any trace of the eastern arm, but these features may be assumed by analogy with similar churches of late pre-Conquest date. Cruciform buildings of this type usually belong to minster churches, while the irregularity of the setting out of the arcades of the present nave suggests that the original building was set out with irregular angles, which is a further pre-Conquest characteristic (A. W. Clapham, English Romanesque Architecture Before the Conquest (1930), 103). A date for the present chancel in the 11th century, possibly as early as c. 1050, may be postulated on architectural grounds.
Between 1190 and 1196 the church was given by William (fitz Patrick), Earl of Salisbury, to the canons of the Augustinian Priory of Bradenstoke in Wiltshire (W. Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum (1830), VI, 338–9, no. II), and in c. 1200 the aisled Nave together with the North Tower and an aisle linking this last with the original N. chapel (or porticus) were added; whether a similar aisle was also added on the S. of the present chancel is uncertain. These additions were designed to provide a separate parochial church so that the canons serving Canford could continue to observe the office laid down by the Rule of St. Augustine in the old minster church, which then became the choir.
The institution of a vicarage at Canford was authorised in 1256 (Dugdale, 339, no. V), marking the end of the attempt to serve the church directly by canons of Bradenstoke. This phase is marked in due course by the insertion of the present early 14th-century chancel arch, destroying the W. wall of the old minster church, and a replanning on lines that brought the building more nearly into conformity with a normal parish church. This included the building or rebuilding, also in the 14th century, of the present South Chapel in the position of the original S. chapel (or porticus), but on a larger scale, and the South Aisle of the present chancel, when too the nave aisles were heightened and the E. archway of the S. aisle of the nave was inserted or enlarged. Plans dated 1828 preserved in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries show the church as it then was and a proposed W. extension, which was made soon thereafter. The principal 19th-century alterations and additions were made in 1876–8 under the direction of D. Brandon, when the W. bay of the nave was added in place of the extension of c. 1829 and the North and South Porches, which had been demolished in c. 1829, were rebuilt (The Builder, 28 July 1877, 755–6; Dorset Procs. XXXIX (1918), 115). The North Vestry, in the position of the pre-Conquest N. chapel and adjacent aisle of c. 1200, is modern.
Canford church is of considerable interest, not only as a building in substantial part dating from before the Norman Conquest but as one demonstrating the architectural changes made during the Middle Ages to adapt it to changing uses, from its beginning as a minster church of a small community, then as a parochial church served directly by canons of an Augustinian priory and finally as a normal parish church.
Architectural Description—The Chancel (40½ ft. by 15½ ft.) is of the mid 11th century; originally it was the nave of an aisleless cruciform church of which the E. arm and the N. and S. chapels (or porticus) have been destroyed. The E. wall has been extensively patched; the position of the S.E. quoin is certain and shows that the chancel was at least 4 ft. narrower than the nave. The E. window is of the mid 19th century. In the N. wall at the E. end is a round arch to the former N. chapel with plain jambs and chamfered imposts; the position of the E. wall of the porticus here, and similarly of that on the S., is clear, with the inner face 9 ins. E. of the jamb of the arch; the indications of the W. walls are far less distinct, but there is evidence on the N. side of stones dressed back indicating a wall with the W. face 1 ft. 6 ins. W. of the W. jamb of the arch. The position of the W. wall of the S. porticus is obscured by a wall-monument but cannot have been more than 3 ft. 6 ins. W. of the arch. The width of each porticus cannot have been more than 9 ft. 6 ins. W. of the arch to the former N. chapel is part of the rear arch and splay of a mid 11th-century window with polychrome dressings of red carstone and white Portland stone; the W. jamb has been destroyed by enlargement of an opening to the W., which is shown on the plan of 1828 and represents the processional archway of c. 1200. Further W. is a 12th-century doorway with flat lintel supported on moulded corbels, square jambs and a round rear arch. At the W. end is a 19th-century round-headed opening to the N. tower. The openings in the S. wall correspond approximately to those on the N.; they include a round-headed mid 11th-century opening to the former S. chapel, a 19th-century opening replacing the processional archway of c. 1200, and a semicircular-headed doorway with traces of a blocked mid 11th-century window in the pier to the W. of it. The 19th-century opening at the W. end of the wall replaces one of uncertain date shown on the plan of 1828. The early 14th-century chancel arch is two-centred and of two chamfered orders, the outer continuous and the inner dying into the responds.
The North Vestry (28½ ft. by 7¼ ft.) has a rebuilt 14th-century E. window of two lights with two-centred heads. The N. wall and roof are modern but the line of the earlier roof is visible at a lower level on the E. wall of the N. tower. The North Tower (10 ft. by 11¼ ft.) is of four stages divided by weathered offsets, with clasping angle buttresses to the N.E. and N.W. corners of the lower stage and a plain parapet with a moulded coping. The ground stage has in the E. wall a two-centred opening of c. 1200 to the N. vestry and a single lancet window above with attached nook shafts inside having moulded bases and capitals carved with grotesques. In the N. wall is a similar window but larger and with the capitals enriched with stiff-leaved foliage and with a moulded rear arch. In the W. wall is a two-centred arch of two rectangular orders, the inner supported by paired attached shafts with capitals enriched with stylised foliage; on the W. face are remains of the weathering of the earlier aisle roof. The second stage is approached through a doorway high in the W. wall of the lower stage via a wall passage and a stair. In the E. wall is a single-light window with a square head; the rear arch of a similar window remains in the N. wall and a blocked window in the S. The third stage has in each wall a window of c. 1200 of two round-headed lights with a central column in a semicircular embracing arch, but the upper part of the S. window has been destroyed. In each face of the fourth stage is a single-light window with rounded head.
The South Chapel (16¼ ft. by 15¾ ft.) represents a rebuilding in the 14th century of the former chapel or porticus the evidence for which is described above. It has in the S. wall an early 16th-century window of three trefoiled lights with pierced spandrels in a square head; in the W. wall is a 14th-century segmental arch of two chamfered orders. The South Chancel Aisle (23½ ft. by 10½ ft.) has in the S. wall an 18th-century doorway and a late 14th-century window of three cinque-foiled lights in a square head with a segmental-pointed rear arch. In the W. wall is a late 14th-century segmental pointed arch of two chamfered orders.
The Nave (53 ft. by 19 ft.) has in the N. wall two arches; the first is semicircular, of two orders, square to the N. and moulded to the S. with a roll-moulding to the inner order and a pointed-bowtell to the outer, and with roll-moulded labels with up-turned stops; the half-round responds have scalloped capitals with plain semicircular abaci and moulded bases. The responds in the next bay are similar to the foregoing but the two-centred arch of two chamfered orders is a rebuilding of the 14th century. Over the W. haunches of both arches are circular sex-foiled openings and at the W. end is a single lancet window, all three of 1876. In the S.E. corner is an opening at a high level from the former rood stair. The treatment of the S. wall is similar to that on the N. except that both arches are original and semicircular and the capitals of the responds include stiff-leaved foliage and have square abaci. The North Aisle (36½ ft. by 9½ ft.) has in the N. wall at the E. end a repaired late 14th-century window of three cinque-foiled lights in a square head; to the W., flanking the N. doorway, are two small lancets in deeply splayed recesses with semicircular rear arches of c. 1200; the N. doorway, also of this date, has a semicircular head of two moulded orders springing from hollow-chamfered imposts supported under the outer order by angle shafts with enriched capitals, moulded bases, and a central moulded band. At the W. end of the N. wall is an angle buttress added in the 14th century. The W. wall has a window of c. 1200, of one round-headed light with round rear arch; a creasing for the original roof is visible on the E. wall and its line also appears in the W. wall externally. The South Aisle (37 ft. by 9½ ft.) has angle buttresses at the E. and W. ends of the S. wall; the windows in the S. and W. walls are uniform with the corresponding windows in the N. aisle. The S. doorway is contemporary with that on the N. and of similar design but with a more elaborate inner order enriched with trefoiled cusping. The line of the earlier roof is also visible externally on the W. wall.
Fittings—Bells: six, 1st modern; others recast in 1739, by William Knight. Brackets: In N. vestry against S. wall, two for bearer of former aisle roof. Brasses and Indents. Brass: in N. vestry, on N. wall, to Richard Cheke, 1502/3, son and heir of William English, black-letter inscription on rectangular panel. Indents: in churchyard, against S. wall of S. chancel aisle, Purbeck marble slab (7 ft. 11 ins. by 4 ft. 5 ins.) in two pieces with large indents of (i) a knight in armour, (ii) a lady, (iii) a surrounding inscription fillet, late 14th-century. Chairs: three; in chancel, (1) with panelled back, shaped arm-rests, carved front and side rails and turned and moulded legs, mid 17th-century; in S. chapel, (2) with moulded back panel and carved framing, shaped arm-rests with turned and moulded supports and wedge-shaped seat, early 17th-century; in S. aisle, (3) with arched and enriched back panel, carved framing and shaped top rail, shaped arm-rests with turned and moulded supports, made up of 17th-century material. Chest: in S. chapel, 4½ ft. long, with moulded lid, panelled sides and moulded framing, late 17th-century. Collecting Box: of oak, rectangular box, partly closed, with trefoil-ended handle, inscribed IG 1679. Font: of Purbeck marble, octagonal bowl with two shallow trefoiled panels in each face and hollow-chamfered lower edge, on round central shaft with eight subsidiary shafts and chamfered octagonal base, 13th-century. Font Cover: of wood, octagonal with moulded frame, iron straps and spikes, 17th-century. Inscriptions: in S. aisle, on S. wall at W. end, marble tablet recording the enlargement of the church and a grant from the Incorporated Church Building Society in 1829. In tower, on W. wall of ground floor, framed board recording the recasting of the bells in 1739 and giving 'changes' for five bells, signed 'July 29, Joseph Card Pinxt. 1827'.
Monuments: In S. chapel—on N. wall, (1) to Thomas Macnamara Russell, Admiral of the White and late commanderin-chief in the North Seas, 1824, and Elizabeth his wife, 1818, white marble tablet with naval trophies above and shield-of-arms on apron, on grey marble backing, by H. Harris of Poole, erected 1825 (Salisbury Journal 8 Aug. 1825); on S. wall, (2) to Catherine, wife of John Willett Willett of Merly, 1798, and their daughter Annabella, 1795, white marble tablet with stele carved with allegorical figure with censer on grey marble backing with shield-of-arms below, signed J. Bacon R.A. Sculpt. 1799. In S. chancel aisle—on E. wall, (3) to Rudolf Willett, 1795, and Annabella his wife, 1779, white marble tablet with kneeling figures holding a heart and with a shield-of-arms; on N. wall, (4) to John Willett Willett, F.R.S., F.A.S., of Merly, 1815, white marble tablet surmounted by allegorical figure holding urn with profile portrait and with child holding quenched torch, on black marble, signed Turner Elli (sic) Sculptor London; on S. wall, (5) to Henry Constantine of Merly, 1613, erected by his widow Elizabeth (Evelyn) 1651, black marble wall-monument with moulded cornice, round pediment and shaped apron with shield-of-arms of Constantine impaling the quarterly arms of Evelyn. In N. aisle—on N. wall, (6) to Lewis William Brouncker, 1812, Harriet his wife, 1850, and their children, Louisa, Susanna and William, 1809, white marble tablet with draped urn and shield-of-arms, signed Smith sculptor London; (7) to John Willis Savary, 1789, and Willis Hart, 1792, white and grey marble tablet with urn; (8) to Rev. George Tito Brice, vicar, 1826, and Frances his wife, 1833, white marble tablet on black marble backing with shield-of-arms; (9) to Rev. Richard Lloyd, A.M., 1732, and Elizabeth his wife, 1733 (Plate 16) white marble draped cartouche with Latin inscription, cherubs' heads, a skull, and surmounted by shield-of-arms and crest; on S. wall, (10) to Rev. Robert Henning, 1798, and Maria (Franklin) his wife, 1796, grey and white marble monument with Latin inscription and double urn, signed H. Rouw, London. In S. aisle—on N. wall, (11) to Caroline widow of Richard Anthony Salisbury, 1830, white marble Gothic tablet with enriched ogee head and lozenge-of-arms, signed Harris, Bath; on S. wall, (12) to Henrietta Mary Wilkie, 1790, white marble shield-shaped tablet (Plate 17) carved with allegorical figure holding inscription tablet surmounted by draped urn with shield-of-arms, on grey marble backing, signed J. Bacon R.A. Sculpt London 1791; (13) to Rev. William Oldfield Bartlett, vicar, 1842, and Eliza his wife, white marble tablet on black marble backing, signed Currie 240 Oxford Street; (14) to Samuel Martin, 1788, (Plate 17) white marble sarcophagus-shaped tablet with enriched panels, surmounted by veined marble obelisk with portrait head in medallion (Plate 18) and shield-of-arms, signed J. Bacon sculptor. An altar tomb from here is in Stock Gayland church in Lydlinch parish (Dorset III). In churchyard—N.E. of N. vestry, (15) to Francis White, early 18th-century headstone with cross, cross bones and hour glass; (16) to Bridget, wife of Thomas Trim, early 18th-century headstone; (17) to Thomas Trim, 1713, headstone; (18) to Charles, son of William and Eleanor Budden, 1827 (Plate 21); S. of S. aisle, (19) former floor-slab inscribed 'Constantine Spirituale Resurgam, 1666'; S.W. of S. porch, (20) to Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Austen Layard, G.C.B., 'The Discoverer of Nineveh', 1894, memorial of Scottish granite. See also Indents, under Brasses.
Sundials: (1) on apex of gable of S. chapel, 19th-century; (2) on E. jamb of S. door inside porch, scratch dial. Table: in N. vestry, with carved bearers, enriched bulbous legs, moulded and carved stretchers, c. 1600.’

<2> Ralegh Radford, C A, 1973, Pre-conquest Minster Churches. The Archaeological Journal 130, 136 (Article in serial). SWX3046.

<3> Taylor, H M, 1978, Anglo-Saxon Architecture III, 1071-2 (Monograph). SDO18798.

<4> Aston, Michael, and Lewis, Carenza (eds), 1994, The medieval landscape of Wessex, 53 (Monograph). SWX1296.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 458051 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

May 1 2025 11:54AM