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May, 2014:

Wool – The Church of The Holy Rood

May 28th, 2014
by Dorset Ancestors.
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Wool did not become a parish in its own right until 1844. Until then it had been a chapelry of Coombe Keynes, although those resident in Wool were granted the right to bury their own in their own churchyard as early as 1384. Parts of the early church remain but most of what we see today is the result of a Victorian rebuilding and enlargement; work undertaken by John Hicks of Dorchester between 1864 and 1866.

In the first edition of his work, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset, published in 1774, John Hutchins gives us a description of the earlier church:  “The Chapel of Wool is a chapel of ease to Coomb-Keynes, and officiated in once a fortnight by the vicar, for which he has a salary of £5 per annum, paid by Edward Weld Esq., in lieu of all glebe and tithes. It is situated in the S. Part of the vill and consists of a chancel, body, narrow N. isle and a low embattled tower, in which are four bells. At the upper end of the N. Isle is a chapel divided from the other part by an arch, and belonging to Bindon. West of this chapel was the burial place of the Turbervilles of Woolbridge. On the wall, ‘M.T. Matthew Turberville.’ There is nothing remarkable in it, but an ancient pulpit cloth, well preserved, said to have belonged to Bindon Abbey. It is brown velvet, and on it are embroidered in gold, the twelve apostles, but it is most probable it belonged to Bindon Chapel, and was preserved when that and the house were burnt in the civil wars. The inhabitants of this chapelry maintain their own chapel and poor, and burry in the chapel yard.”

(The Pulpit cloth Hutchins refers to is actually an altar frontal. Because of its fragility it was placed with Dorset County Museum in the 19th century).

Another person of note to visit the church before the changes of 1866 was Sir Stephen Glynne (1807-1874). He was a Welsh landowner, politician and, importantly for our purposes, he was an antiquary and student of church architecture; he has left us the following description: “A small church consisting of nave and chancel, each with north aisle and north and south porch, and a western tower. The whole built of stone. There are some First Pointed portions; of which character is the arcade of the nave, having three arches with circular columns of which the capitals are moulded. The western respond has good foliage. There is a curious triple chancel arch, with light octagonal piers having no capitals. The eastern pier beyond the arcade is very large and contains a square opening now glazed. The windows of the nave are Third Pointed, chiefly square-headed. The chancel has First Pointed lancets and a Priest’s door on the south. The east window Third Pointed. On the north of the chancel is a plain continuous arch opening to the aisle or chapel, with a large wall space eastward. There is a similar arch between the aisle of the nave and that of the chancel. On the north side of the tower arch is a staircase with openings facing eastward. There is a hideous north gallery. The tower arch has fair mouldings. The tower is Third Pointed, with battlement and buttresses set away from the angles; at the south-east , a polygonal turret terminated by a pyramidal finishing. The belfry window of two lights, a slit in the second stage, and no west door. Instead of the eastern belfry window is an open quatrefoil. The porches are also Third Pointed – the outer doors having shafts and the north porch quatrefoil openings on the sides. The font is Third Pointed, the bowl octagonal, panelled with quatrefoils. There are no parapets. The nave is slated, the aisle leaded, the chancel tiled. In the churchyard are seen the odd names of Cram and Phone.”

(The references above to “First-Pointed” and “Third-Pointed” mean 13th and 15th century respectively).

It seems the church used to be at the centre of the village; due to development these days it is at the south-east end of the village but it seems that changes had begun by 1852. Hutchins editors (3rd edition published in 1861) report “There is a tradition amongst the people, that some time ago it (the church) formed the centre point in the village; and within the memory of the present generation, changes have taken place which have made it less so than formerly, some houses near the church having pulled down, and others built at a greater distance from….” In 1852 the singing gallery that had extended much further into the church was moved to a position behind the tower arch; in later developments it disappeared altogether.

On the 28th of July 1864 edition of the Dorset County Chronicle an urgent appeal was made on behalf of the church and the parishioners of Wool. It stated that the architect, Mr Hicks of Dorchester, has stated that he considers the church highly dangerous in its present condition: the roof “is fast giving way”.  It was proposed to rebuild the nave and to add a new aisle at an estimated cost of £1,000.”

This was followed by a faculty dated 23rd December 1864 for “wholly to take down the same church and chancel (with the exception of the tower and portions of the north and west walls of the nave, porch and arcade) and in lieu thereof erect fit and complete upon the same site and adjacent portions of the churchyard a substantial and durable church and chancel upon a larger scale with the additions of a south aisle and vestry room and extending the chancel twelve feet ten inches into the churchyard.” The estimated cost at that time was £1,160 and John Hicks was to be the architect. The work was carried out in 1865-66, pretty much in accordance with the faculty and all of the roofs were renewed. During the rebuilding a medieval Cresset stone was found, it is a form of oil lamp with four holes for wicks.

The re-opening of the church was reported in the Dorset County Chronicle of 30th August 1866. The report mentioned the work of Mr Hicks, the architect and the builder, Mr Wellspring of Dorchester. The name of local stone mason Mr Grassby is also mentioned several times in the newspaper’s report. The report went on to cover the re-opening service and luncheon for invited guests, which took place in a tent erected in a nearby field.

In 1907 a sixth bell was added and all the bells re-hung in a new steel and iron frame; in 1970 a small chapel was added at the east end of the north aisle.

Spetisbury

May 16th, 2014
by Dorset Ancestors.
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This parish is a union of three former manors: two, Spetisbury in the north-west and Crawford Magna in the south-east of the present parish, are mentioned in Domesday Book; the other manor was Middlestreet. The village extends along the south-west bank of the River Stour, about three miles south-east of Blandford Forum and comprises 2,249 acres. During the 18th century all three manors became the property of Francis Fane (1752-1813) He took over his father’s parliamentary seat and was MP for Lyme Regis until1780, subsequently winning the parliamentary election for Dorchester in 1790.

The Iron Age fort known as Spetisbury Rings (or Crawford Castle) extends to five acres and appears to be unfinished; it overlooks the village and the River Stour. During the construction of a railway cutting in 1857 eighty skeletons were uncovered and a further forty skeletons were recovered the following year. Objects from the grave included iron spear-heads; an iron sword; a twisted iron torque; two bronze chapes; currency bars; a bronze cauldron; bucket handles; spiral finger rings, and two brooches. A fragment of Roman shield binding and the fact that at least two of the bodies came to a violent end suggests that the occupants of the grave were victims of the advancing Roman army. Hence, the grave may be comparable with the ‘war-cemetery’ at Maiden Castle. The uncompleted strengthening of the defences is presumably associated with the Roman advance.

In the village there are many examples of cottages dating from the 18th century and some fine houses including Johns House, formerly the Rectory – a good example of early 18th century domestic architecture. Nearby is Crawford House, which dates from the same period but during the 19th century it was extended and most of the interior altered. Part of the village, including some old cottages, was destroyed in 1905 when a fire that started in the bakery spread out of control.

The Parish Church of St. John stands at the north-west end of the village. The church was extensively restored in 1858 and 1868 but the columns of the nave arcade are original and date to the 12th or early 13th century. The walls of the church are built of flint, interspersed with large, roughly squared blocks having ashlar dressings. The tower dates from the 15th or early 16th century; there are five bells. Notable features are a canopied mural table-tomb of 1599 to a Tudor Knight, Sir John Boyer, a richly carved 17th century oak pulpit and a medieval font.

Middlestreet Manor House was home to the Augustinian Sisters of St. Monica from 1800 and there followed other religious orders. In 1861 twelve nuns travelled from Portugal to England and settled at Spetisbury.

Crawford Bridge carries the road from Spetisbury to Tarrant Crawford over the River Stour. It has nine arches of coursed rubble and ashlar; at the north end are three narrow land arches of brick. The west side of the bridge is medieval but the east side was rebuilt when the road was widened in 1819. The first record of the bridge was in  1334.

The village name roughly translated from the Anglo-Saxon means: ‘The ancient earthwork visited by the green woodpecker.’

John Love of Weymouth

May 8th, 2014
by Dorset Ancestors.
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Few pictorial records of the Dorset countryside seem to have been made before the mid 18th century; until then landscape painting had not been taken seriously as an art form. It was around this time that travelling for pleasure or health reasons became fashionable with the upper and middle classes. An important factor as far as south Dorset was concerned – and in particular Weymouth – was the patronage of the Royal Family.

The man who probably did most to promote an interest in art in the area was John Love,  a bookseller and publisher as well as being an accomplished artist. He was said to have been a skinny youth but later in life he confessed to deriving much pleasure from his food, which was apparent for all to see as he weighed a portly twenty-six stone. It was claimed, almost certainly falsely, that at one time he was the heaviest man in England.

As a young man he went to London and studied at the Royal Academy Schools lodging with William Ryland, who had been engraver to the King. But Ryland took a wrong turn in his career and was found guilty of forgery, a crime for which he was executed.

John Love returned to Weymouth where, during the 1780’s and until his death in 1793, he had a shop that incorporated a library and exhibition rooms; it was here that upcoming artists could display their work. Here Love wrote a Guide to Weymouth, which was published in 1788.

In 1790 Weymouth was a very popular resort and Love collaborated with James Fittler, the Court Engraver at the time, to publish a series of twelve prints entitled Love’s Picturesque Views of Weymouth; one set of these was recently offered for sale through a London auction house, fetching £1,200.