Listed Building record MDO3852 - St Mary's Church, High Street, Gillingham

Parish church with a fourteenth-century chancel. The main body of church rebuilt between 1838-9 by Walker, the west tower between 1908-9 by C E Ponting, and the south chapel and vestries in 1921 by Caroe. Built of ashlar and coursed, squared rubble with ashlar dressings. Slate and lead roofs.

Parish Church of St. Mary, Gillingham, of ashlar and coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, has a chancel and north chapel of early 14th century origin with restorations of 1840. The remainder of the church was rebuilt in 1838 with a south chapel added in 1921. According to a letter of 1838 from the vicar (quoted by Wagner), the antecedent nave only 12ft wide was separated from aisles by 'heavy Saxon or Norman arches only 11 1/2ft. in height, supported by large masses of stone which so shut out the aisles ... as to render them ... of little use', a description comparable with the pre-conquest nave at Canford. The advowson value of 40 shillings in Domesday may suggest a Saxon minster here; it was given to Shaftesbury Abbey in exchange for land at Corfe Castle. <2>

Additional reference. <3>

Church of St Mary. Parish church, chancel C14, main body of church 1838-9, west tower 1908-9, south chapel and vestries 1921. Main body of church by Walker, tower by C E Ponting and south chapel and vestries by Caroe. <4>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, 1964 (Map). SDO10373.

(ST 80652658) St. Mary's Church (NAT)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 27-30 (Monograph). SDO99.

‘(1) The Parish Church of St. Mary (Plate 4) stands near the middle of the town. It has walls generally of ashlar and roof-coverings of slate and of lead; in the chancel the walls are of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings. The chancel and North Chapel are of early 14th-century origin, with restorations of 1840 (S.D.N.Q. XV (1917), 73, 208). The Nave, North and South Aisles, West Tower and North and South Porches were built in 1838. According to a letter of 1838 from the vicar (quoted by A. F. H. Wagner, The Church of St. Mary, Gillingham, (1956), 17), the antecedent nave, only 12 ft. wide, was separated from the aisles by ‘heavy Saxon or Norman arches only 11½ ft. in height, supported by large masses of stone which so shut out the aisles … as to render them … of little use’, a description which suggests comparison with the pre-conquest nave at Canford (Dorset, II, 197). The value of the advowson, 40 shillings, in Domesday (V.C.H., Dorset iii, 83) suggests a foundation which might well be that of a Saxon minster; it was given to Shaftesbury Abbbey in exchange for the land on which Corfe Castle was built (Dorset II, 58, notes 1,2). The W. tower, originally within the area of the nave, was rebuilt in 1838 some 20 ft. further west, was heightened and considerably altered in 1908. The South Chapel was added in 1921. … ’

<2.1> Wagner, A, 1956, Church of St Mary, Gillingham, 16 (Monograph). SDO19995.

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 214-5 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> DOE (HHR), 1985, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: North Dorset District, 40 (Scheduling record). SDO17732.

<5> Aston, Michael, and Lewis, Carenza (eds), 1994, The medieval landscape of Wessex, 53 (Monograph). SWX1296.

<6> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OP24576 (Index). SDO14738.

A view of a chalice from St Mary's Church, Gillingham, marked '1574 Gyilyngam' on its Paten cover. This print was received from Dorset County Museum in 1967.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 206386 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 16 2025 3:44PM