Parish Church Of St Mary

The parish church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building located in Melbury Bubb. The south tower dates to the 15th century, while the nave and chancel were largely rebuilt in the 19th century, likely by Withers of Sherborne. The church is constructed of rubble-stone walls with ashlar stone dressings, and has slate roofs with stone gable copings.

The south tower is of four stages. The ground stage serves as a porch entrance to the church and has diagonal buttresses. The south doorway has jambs and a pointed arch head of two chamfered orders. A window of one trefoiled light is set into the second stage’s east wall. The third stage features a standard set diagonally on each face, resting on half-angels holding shields. Above this is a frieze of quatrefoils enclosing paterae, and shields bearing the initials B. and W. B., representing Walter Bokeler, a rector from around 1470-80. The bell-chamber has windows of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head, with stone tracery to the louvres. The tower is topped with an embattled parapet and small pinnacles to each central merlon. A stair turret is a later addition.

The chancel, rebuilt in the 19th century, comprises two bays with diagonal buttresses. The side windows are of two lights, cinquefoil-cusped with casement-moulded reveals and a moulded label with head-stops. A priest’s door leads to the chancel, fitted with a plank door. The east window incorporates elements from the 15th century, featuring three lights with ogee trefoil cusping, falchions, and small 19th-century niche in the gable-head. The nave, also a 19th-century rebuild, has three bays. The south-east window is of three lights and retains portions of older tracery. A north window has a 15th-century head of three trefoiled lights with panel tracery. The western pair of windows have 15th-century heads of three cinquefoiled ogee lights with panel tracery. The west window has Y-tracery and panel tracery; a blocked doorway sits below, with moulded jambs, a pointed head, and a 19th-century label.

Inside, the nave roof is high and waggon-braced with short king-posts and longitudinal plates, featuring fleuron bosses at the intersections. The chancel roof has a mansard profile, compartmented and bossed at the intersections. The chancel arch has moulded jambs that continue into a pointed arch with stepped and pyramid stops. A cylindrical tapering stone font, possibly dating to the 10th century and formerly the base of a shaft, is carved with a continuous design of beasts, including a stag, horse, wolf, and a possible lion. Stained glass from the late 15th century is found in the east window, depicting shields of arms of Wane and Mattravers, symbols of the four evangelists, crowns, and an inscription. A north window depicts the Annunciation, with figures of the Virgin and St Gabriel. Another north window displays a head of Christ, panels of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, and inscriptions. The main lights display a figure of Christ with five wounds, originally accompanied by panels representing the seven sacraments. Tracery in the west window is also 15th-century glass.