Listed Building record MDO37744 - St Mary's Church, Glanvilles Wootton

Parish church. The south chapel was built around 1344, probably for Sibyl de Glaunvyll. The west tower was built around 1400, the south porch in the 15th century, and the west doorway in the 16th century. The north wall of the nave and the chancel were built in 1876, as well as general restoration for/by C W and E R Dale and Woodman, supervised by G R Crickmay. The font dates to the early 13th century, possibly suggesting an earlier building on the site.

Parish Church of St Mary. South chapel founded by Sibyl de Glonvyll C1344, West tower ca 1400, South porch C15th. Nave and chancel restored in 1876 by Crickmay. Grade 2*. <1, 3, 4>

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1900, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1900, 210-217 (Serial). SDO14.

By Rev. Canon C. H. MAYO, M.A.
C Read to the Dorset Field Club in Glanvills Wootton Church, 5th June, 1900.)
The worthy Secretary of the Field Club has thought fit to require me to write a paper on the Church
of Glanvilles Wootton, in which we find ourselves to-day, and as the first duty of the members of the Club is that of obedience to its officers, I will do my best, though that best be but little, to discharge the task which he has laid upon me.
We are standing in a church which, like so many others, has passed through the ordeal of restoration. And the first remark that I have to make is to mention the fact which, upon examination, you could readily infer, that the chancel, chancel arch, and the north wall of the nave have been newly built from the foundations. This was done in 1875-6, under the superintendence of Mr. G. R. Crickmay, and the church was re-opened for Divine Service on 22nd April in the latter year. Some features from the previous structure are preserved in the new walls, and to them I will presently refer.
What the earliest church on this spot was like we have nothing to inform us. No fragment of Saxon or Norman carving came to light in 1875. There is one relic, however, that takes us back to the 13th century viz., the ancient font of Purbeck marble, with octagonal bowl, bearing on each face a pair of incised pointed panels, and supported on a circular stem, surrounded with eight small pillars. The base is also octagonal. The eight pillars and the central stem or support are new. If an old plate in Hutchins' History may be trusted, the stem of the font was previously a solid octagonal pier. This font formerly stood, as we are told in The Gentleman's Magazine, within the chapel, having been placed there some time after the suppression of the chantry. The font cover is a good piece of work of the end of the 1 7th century.
We may conclude, therefore, from the occurrence of this font that a church of Early English or earlier date was formerly existing here, a building which may have been, as I think there are indications to show, of smaller dimensions than the present edifice.
Passing from the Early English to the Decorated period, we arrive at what is the great feature of interest in the present building the chapel of the chantry, founded (Hutchins says re-founded, but as I have not seen the original documents I cannot say whether correctly or no) by Sibylla Glanville, 18 Edw. III., 1344, and endowed by her with the Manor of Foffordeston (now called Forston), in the parish of Charminster, and one messuage and lands in Glanvilles Wootton, for a chaplain to celebrate Divine Service every day for ever at the altar of B.V. Mary in this church.
The Glanvilles (members of a great legal family) were connected with this parish from the time of Henry de Glanville, lord of Glanvilles Wootton, circa 1216 (nephew of Ranulph de Glanville, Chief Justice of England and Earl of Suffolk, who died 1190). He was father of Geoffrey de Glanville, 1260, succeeded by John de Glanville, who occurs in 1275, father of Sir Henry de Glanville, who presented to the Rectory in 1302. His son, William de Glanville, lord of Glanvilles Wootton and of Foffordeston, 1330, married Sibyll, foundress of the chantry, who presented the first chaplain 3rd March, 1344. Her son, John de Glanville, was the last owner of the name, and presented to the Rectory in 1350, and to the chantry in 1396-7, and left a daughter and heir, Joan, married to Robert More, of Marnhull, whose daughter, Edith, carried the estate to the Newburghs, of East Lulworth, in 1422. (See the Records of the Anglo-Norman House of Glanville, by W. U. S. Glanville-Richards, 1882.)
The chapel of this chantry, measuring internally 21 ft. 4in. by 1 3ft. 8in., is a beautiful specimen of flint work with Ham stone dressings, and is lighted with three large Decorated windows, the tracery of each being of different design. Beneath the two southern windows are arched recesses, in one of which a recumbent effigy is now placed. Below the east window is the ancient altar slab, taken from the floor, repaired, and replaced in its old position, but on new supports, in 1875-6. On each side are brackets for statues, long since removed ; on the south side a piscina with shelf, which has been repaired, and on the north the remarkable double hagioscope. On two sides of the chapel a stone bench runs at the foot of the wall. The whole is connected with the nave of the parish church by a small doorway, in which the door staples still remain, and a wide spreading arch. Below this arch rested the recumbent effigy already mentioned. To quote the account of it in The Gentleman's Magazine, 1817 : " Under the arch which separates this chapel from the body of the church is a stone coffin with the effigy of a man in a loose dress, belted, a sword by his left side, and a lion or dog broken off at his feet; length, when perfect, about 5 ft. 10 in. From a piece of the lid being broken off, it appears that the coffin was a plain stone chest." (Vol. for 1817, pt. ii., pp. 297-8.) It may be noticed that the figure, of Ham stone, whose head, with long flowing hair, rests on a cushion, while the hands are folded in prayer, is dressed in a short tunic, gathered in at the waist, the sleeves also being somewhat short. Over this is a hood, with the peak swung round on the right shoulder. The sword and belt are prominent objects ; but the writer in The Gentleman's Magazine seems to have passed by the implement dagger possibly, though it is not like one, nor on the usual side which a friend, well versed in arms and armour, who visited the church with me last year, could not satisfactorily account for. A kind of pad or greave appears on each leg. On the left side of the left leg it can readily be seen, and, on passing the hand down the right side of the right leg, its lateral edge may be felt in a corresponding position. The straps of the spurs are still traceable.
It is to be regretted that a new and fancy face has been added to the effigy. The right foot has also been restored, if the plate in Hutchins is correct. The stone coffin, mentioned in The Gentleman's Magazine, and also shown in the old plate already mentioned, has wholly disappeared.
Observe the ancient tiles, some on the footpace of the altar, others on the floor of the south-west arched recess, the most interesting being two (now under the altar) representing a stag hunt perhaps of the famous White Hart, slain, as the legend says, by De la Linde. The remaining tiles are reproductions. In the south windows are some fragments of old glass. The Gentleman's Magazine speaks of a "neat figure of the Virgin, and some other small fragments, in the east window." This figure of the Virgin has disappeared, and the window is occupied by modern glass. What remains in the other windows is a medley of scraps of glass some of which are of Tudor date. I have been told that some pieces, perhaps these, came from the old domestic chapel at Grange, hard by. Two figures of Saints (not Angels), swinging censers, are in their original position. There is a curious scrap showing a nose and two eyes on a very large scale, which must have belonged to a face of enormous size. It is in the most eastern trefoil of the south-east window. The panelled oak ceiling was renewed at the restoration.
Externally the chapel on its south side presents a very fine piece of masonry, the windows deeply recessed, and the walls supported by dignified buttresses. You will notice that the south wall is some nine inches thicker below the windows than elsewhere. This is to allow for the construction of the arched recesses beneath the windows. Notice also that the east window of the chapel is nearly flush with the exterior of the wall, thus differing very markedly from the southern windows. The reason of this variation will be apparent when it is observed that space was required for the altar slab to rest on the sill below the east window within the chapel, thus obliging the mullions and tracery to be pushed eastward as far as possible. This east window had been blocked internally by the monument of Mrs. Leigh, who died in 1783, but, says Hutchins' Second Edition, the obstruction was removed in 1806, when the monuments were repaired.
Another point to be noticed is that the chapel, and, indeed, all the old church, including the tower, was at one time plastered on the exterior and interior. The pick-marks on the Ham stones, to enable the plaster to adhere, are in many places visible. This plaster was removed in 1875, and, as far as the outer coat was concerned, to the obvious detriment of the building, and the clamp is now extensively finding its way in.
The most remarkable feature in connection with the chapel is the large, ribbed, skew archway, through which the double hagioscope opens into the chancel. This had been mutilated and blocked up on the chancel side, but was opened out at the restoration. The little carved head on the north-east side was found, I am told, built up elsewhere in the chancel wall, and was replaced in its old position, to which it accurately fitted. The cornice is a regrettable addition, made in 1875.
I may add that, at the date of the restoration, this chapel seems to have been claimed by Mr. Sturt, now Lord Alington, who relinquished, though he did not convey, whatever right he had in it to the Dale family, by whom it was placed in its present condition of repair.
Leaving the chantry, we may turn our attention to the porch, south wall of the nave, and the western tower. All these are subsequent to the date of the chapel, and were built in "Perpendicular" times.
I mentioned just now that the older nave was probably of smaller dimensions than the present one. Look at the doorway, and you will see that where the Decorated and Perpendicular work join, the north-west buttress of the chapel shows itself in the wall. This buttress has been cut into to allow the insertion
of the end of the sloping head of the Perpendicular doorway. If this was an external buttress it would seem that the wall of the old nave, when the chapel had been built, did not overlap the wall of the latter, as at present, and that the nave was consequently narrower or shorter than that now existing. This view is confirmed by another circumstance. When the north wall of the nave was taken down in 1875 it was found to have been built upon a line of wooden coffins. The coffins had decayed, and the wall had naturally fallen outwards. I take it that in the 15th century the nave was widened by setting the north wall,- and what remained of the south wall, further apart at any rate, by moving the north wall northwards. Probably the nave was also lengthened.
I might here remark that we are now at the edge of a region of diminutive churches, usually consisting of a nave and chancel, on a small scale, with or without a western tower. Hermitage, Hilfield, Holnest (enlarged by the addition of an aisle at the close of the 15th century), Long Burton (rebuilt, except the tower, circa 1450, when the church seems to have been lengthened, so that the chancel was built outside the churchyard, but on the glebe), Folke (rebuilt, with the exception of the tower, on a larger scale in 1628, and lengthened so that the chancel abutted against the east wall of the churchyard), North Wootton, Haydon, Goathill, Caundle Marsh, Stock Gaylard, Lillington, and Beer Hackett. Glanvilles Wootton I take to have been another example of the same kind, and that before the erection of the chapel and the Perpendicular work of the 1 5th century it consisted of a small chancel, nave, and porch only.
There is nothing which calls for remark in the rest of the south wall of the nave or in the tower- The entrance archway of the porch is of much the same character as that at Long Burton (which dates from about 1450), but it is smaller. Traces of red colour may be seen on the soffit of the slab above the nave doorway ; and the indication of a holy water stoup appears in the wall near the font. The tower arch resembles that at Holnest, but is not so lofty.
In the north wall of the nave are re-inserted certain portions of the old doorway and window (for there was only one window in the former wall). There is a curious opening in the east side of the archway of the north door. This was found in the old wall, and was reinstated in the new, but I cannot tell whether it was accurately reproduced. A wall painting, no longer in existence, representing the miraculous draught of fishes, so I am informed, came to light on the removal of the whitewash which covered the north wall, and another painting over the gallery exhibiting the devil armed with a flail.
The chancel, which was pulled down at the restoration, was about three feet longer than the present one. A round-headed east window (cf. the former chancel at Holwell) had been inserted in the 18th century, and fragments of its predecessor were found built up in the wall. In the north wall was discovered an Easter sepulchre, which had been mutilated and bricked up. Its fragments may be seen in a rockery in the Rectory garden. The former chancel arch, which was of no value, gave place to what you now see. The two ancient features which remain are the piscina with its ogee head, and the head of the priest's doorway, and seem to suggest a former Decorated chancel.
I may briefly call attention to the mural monuments. Two, to John Every and Barbara, Lady Henley, remain in the chapel, others have been removed to the tower, where they are rapidly perishing. The inscriptions may be found in Hutchins' History.
The pulpit and lectern are excellent pieces of turnery, by Mr. E. R. Dale, A.I.E.E.
The parish register dates from 1546, and when it opens a scion of the Glanvilles appears in the marriage of Walter Hollwall, gen., with Joane Glandfeild, gn., 22nd May, 1546. The parish account books begin in 1696.
The Communion plate consists of a chalice with cover and a paten. The chalice is inscribed "Kiddle, churchwarden, 1689." It has no hall marks, and is no doubt of provincial manufacture. The fashion is much older than the date it bears, and the vessel is either a copy of an Elizabethan chalice or is an old chalice, bought second-hand by the parish in 1689. The paten bears the name of the donor, Rev. John King, rector, 1755, who was also owner of West Hall, some four miles off. Of this worthy it is said that one day he left his sermon at home, and set the Wootton people singing the 119th Psalm while his servant rode to West Hall to fetch it. But this story is told of other localities. There are four bells in the tower, inscribed respectively :
i. Sunt. mea. spes. hii. tres. xpc. maria. johes. Recast by John Warner and Sons, London, 1878.
2. Ave Maria.
3. Thomas Knight, John Drake. Anno Dom., 1700.
From the. parish accounts it may be seen that the new casting of this bell cost £8, and 25 lb. of new metal£1 9s. 9d. , and other incidental expenses £1 19s. 10d.
4. Cast by John Warner and Sons, London. This is a new bell, procured circa 1876.
A parish tradition says that Buckland Church has a bell taken from this tower.

Le Pard, Gordon, 1998, Medieval sundials in Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 119, 75 (Article in serial). SDO21411.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 95-96 (Monograph). SDO146.

<2> Ordnance Survey, c 1962, Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map, epoch five (Map). SDO13903.

St Mary's Church (NAT)

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 216-217 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> DOE (HHR), 1987, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: North Dorset, 7 (Scheduling record). SDO17421.

<5> Bellamy, P, 2011, St Mary's Church, Glanvilles Wootton, Dorset. Observations and Recording During Provision of New Electricity Supply, November 2011 (Unpublished document). SDO14415.

Record last edited

Jul 28 2025 3:46PM