Listed Building record MDO37827 - St Andrew's Church, Preston, Weymouth

A thick layer of made ground was found across the area under investigation as well as the remains of an earlier path to the church; both may be associated with the 1855 restoration of the church. No archaeological features or deposits were encountered.

Church of St Andrew, Church Rd, Preston. Probable C14th origin, of which date are the tower arch and North doorway. <1-2>

A structual survey of the Church was undertaken by M A Neal of the Dorset Institute of Higher Education, microfiche copies being deposited in the DCM and at the Institute. <4>

There is slight evidence that Preston church may have originated as a minster. The church lay within the manor of Sutton Poyntz which formed part of an excahange of lnad by King Alfred in 891. <5>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 2, 361-2 (Monograph). SDO149.

‘(302) THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. ANDREW (705829) stands at the S.E. corner of the village. The walls are of coursed rubble with freestone dressings; the roofs are covered with lead, except those over the chancel and N. porch which are slated. The church may be early 14th-century in origin, the date of the surviving tower arch and N. doorway. In the 15th century the Chancel and chancel arch were rebuilt, new windows were inserted in the Nave and the North Porch was added. In the early 16th century the S. arcade was inserted and the South Aisle added, with the re-use of the nave windows. The West Tower was rebuilt in the early 16th century. A further extensive restoration was carried out in the mid 19th century under the direction of T. H. Wyatt. The Vestry is modern.
Architectural Description—The Chancel (21¼ ft. by 16½ ft.) has a late 15th-century E. window of three trefoiled lights with vertical tracery in a two-centred head with moulded reveals. In the N. wall is a modern doorway to the vestry. In the S. wall is an early 16th-century window of three trefoiled lights in a square head with a label. The late 15th-century chancel arch is two-centred and moulded; the outer members are continued down the responds and the innermost springs from attached shafts with moulded bases and caps, the latter carved with foliage. S. of the arch is a square-headed squint.
The Nave (44¼ ft. by 21 ft.) has in the N. wall two late 15th-century windows each of three trefoiled lights in a segmental-pointed head but with differing tracery; the eastern window has moulded reveals and a label with stops carved with a woman spinning and a huntsman; the western window has a label with returned stops and shafted splays with carved capitals; the early 14th-century N. doorway has chamfered jambs and a two-centred head. The early 16th-century S. arcade is of four bays with moulded four-centred arches springing from piers each with four attached shafts having moulded caps and bases; the responds have attached half-piers. E. of the arcade is a square-headed opening to the rood-loft.
The South Aisle (10¾ ft. wide), of the early 16th century, has an embattled parapet. The restored 15th-century E. window is of three trefoiled lights with vertical tracery in a four-centred head; flanking the window, on the N., are remains of the rood stair. The S. wall is divided externally into three bays with intermediate buttresses. In the E. and W. bays are two windows of reused material, each of three uncusped lights with plain vertical tracery in a segmental-pointed head. In the centre bay is a blocked doorway with moulded jambs and high four-centred arched head. In the W. wall is a window of three trefoiled lights with quatre-foiled tracery under a segmental-pointed head.
The West Tower (10½ ft. square) is of two stages with angle buttresses, a moulded string, and embattled parapet with moulded string and gargoyles at the corners. The early 16th-century W. doorway has double-ogee moulded jambs and a high four-centred head. Above it is a reset 14th-century window of two trefoiled lights and quatre-foiled tracery in a two-centred head. The upper stage is of two storeys: the first has narrow rectangular windows with chamfered jambs in the N. and S. walls; the bell chamber above has in each wall an early 16th-century window of two trefoiled lights and sunk spandrels beneath a flat head. The 14th-century tower arch is two-centred and of two continuous chamfered orders.
The North Porch is of the 15th century; it has an outer archway with a moulded two-centred head, the inner and outer members springing from attached shafts with caps carved with foliage and paterae, and stone benches to E. and W.
¶Fittings—Bells: six; 3rd by Thomas Purdue, 1671; 4th and 5th by R. Austen, 1629, but recast; 6th by R. Austen, 1629 (Walters, 110, 118; for full inscriptions see Raven, 65). Bracket: In nave—on first pier of S. arcade, moulded and resting on mutilated carved head. Font: square, tapering and panelled bowl of Purbeck marble, c. 1200, on retooled octagonal stem with moulded base and capping carved with paterae, 15th-century. Monuments and Floor-slabs. Monuments: In chancel— on N. wall, (1) to unnamed vicar, 1614, recess with kneeling figure in academic dress, head and hands renewed; (2) to Octavius Piers, B.A., pastor, 1848, white marble tablet signed Raggett; on S. wall, (3) to Capt. Roger Keating, 1842, white marble sarcophagus-shaped tablet on black marble backing signed Hellyer, Weymouth. In S. aisle—in S. wall, (4) reset tomb recess with roll-moulded jambs springing from semi-octagonal pedestal bases and segmental-pointed head, 15th-century. In churchyard—E. of chancel, headstones, (5) to Mary Clapcott, 1672, (6) to Edoth, wife of William Clapcott, 1681, (7) to Jean, wife of John Clapcott, 1686, (8) to Susan, wife of Henry Clapcott, 1696/7; N. of chancel, (9) to Thomas Fookes, 1701, and John Thomas, 1728, table-tomb with arcaded sides and shaped ends; S. of chancel, headstones, (10) to Edward, son of Edward Bryer, 1684, (11) to Edmond Noseter, 1711. Floor-slabs: In nave, (1) to Mary, wife of John Light, minister, 166[0], (2) to John Hankins Shuttleworth, vicar, 1752, (3) to James Linton, 1730, (4) to Jane (Linton), wife of John Tibb, 1715, also to Eadeth (?), wife of James Linton, 1749, (5) to T. Batter, (6) to Richard Eayers, 17th-century, (7) to Susannah Wallis, 19th-century, (8) to Richard Wallis, 19th-century. Niche: In porch—in E. wall, trefoil-headed recess with carved spandrels, 15th-century. Plate: includes brass alms-dish, embossed, 16th-century, continental. Stoup: in porch, W. of N. door, round bowl in square-headed chamfered recess and with remains of pedestal to bowl, 15th-century. Miscellanea: loose in S. aisle—(1) fragments of glazed tiles ornamented with birds, interlace and a griffin in a shield, 14th-century; (2) octagonal stone sundial with Roman numerals, 17th-century; (3) small round-headed standing cross with the emblem roughly incised, c. 1100. The lych-gate of 1911 incorporates some 15th-century moulded timbers from the old Court House at Sutton Poyntz.’

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

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1984 (Map). SWX1197.

(SY70528296) St Andrew's Church [NAT]

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1985, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1984, 125 (Serial). SDO84.

<5> Hall, T A, 2000, Minster Churches in the Dorset Landscape (Monograph). SDO10264.

<6> Trevarthen, M, 2012, St Andrew's Church, Preston, Weymouth, Dorset. Observations and Recording. (Unpublished document). SDO14499.

<7> Bellamy, P S, 2018, St Andrew's Church, Preston, Weymouth, Dorset: Archaeological Observations and Recording During Path and Lighting Works, June 2018 (Unpublished document). SDO16596.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 891448 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 17 2025 3:14PM