Listed Building record MDO40236 - Church of St Basil, Toller Fratrum

Parish Church of St Basil. C19th. Nave and chancel in one. Rubble-stone walls and dressed stone quoins. Slate roof with stone gable-copings and moulded kneelers. Stone bellcote on west gable with bell. Sculpture: re-set on east wall of chancel, stone showing part of scene of St Mary Magdalene wiping the feet of Christ, (her head and Christ's foot and lower drapery visible),circa 1130.

(SY57869739) St Basil's Church [NAT] (1)

Parish Church of St Basil. Mid C19th. Nave and chancel in one. Grade II*. (2,3)

A Romanesque sculpture, clearly a fragment of a much larger piece, is set in the East wall. Early C12th, it appears to be a representation of 'Christ in the House of Simon the Pharisee' (St Alban's Psalter), with Mary Magdalene cleaning the feet of Christ. It is not known what stone the carving is made from, nor its origin. (4)

St Basil's church. Descriptive of font and relief. (5)

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 251 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(1) PARISH CHURCH OF ST. BASIL appears to have been entirely rebuilt in the 19th century. It contains, from the older building, the following:— Fittings—Communion Rails: with turned balusters and moulded top and bottom rails, c. 1730. Font (Plate 15): cylindrical bowl with deep band of interlacing ornament at top, cable-moulding immediately below and at base and between them a series of figures, one with cross-staff, crudely carved, also half-figures and heads, many of the figures with arms stretched upwards, on one side three enriched columns supporting a monster with one head and two bodies, mid 12th-century. Table: In chancel, with folding top, turned legs and moulded stretchers, early 18th-century. Miscellanea: Reset on E. wall of chancel, inside, carved stone, 17 in. by 7 in. (Plate 6), with part of figure of St. Mary Magdalene wiping the feet of Christ with her hair, foot and lower part of figure of Christ with drapery, probably first half of 11th century. Flanking W. doorway, two mediæval head-stops.’

<2> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 424 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1974 (Map). SWX1197.

(SY57869739) St Basil's Church [NAT]

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1985, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1984, 13-16,21 illus (Alford S) (Serial). SDO84.

<5> Department of the Environment, 1985, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: District of West Dorset, 50 (Scheduling record). SDO16362.

<6> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1988, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1987, 1-4 (Serial). SDO87.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 884266 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 16 2025 2:04PM