Church of St Michael

The Church of St Michael is a parish church with origins in the 15th century, extensively restored and the chancel rebuilt in 1881-2 by Crickmay & Son. The tower was partly rebuilt in 1897 by architect C E Ponting, with further repairs in the mid-20th century by Potter & Hare. It is constructed of coursed rubble stone with ashlar dressings, covered by tiled roofs with coped gables. Some older materials were reused during the 19th-century restoration.

The church is laid out approximately west to east with a nave, a chancel with a vestry to the north, a north porch, and a west tower. The tower is two stories high with diagonal buttresses and a moulded plinth. It has a solid 19th-century parapet with moulded coping and a string course featuring carved gargoyles. A rectangular stair turret is located on the north side. The tower’s upper stage has single-light louvred windows on the north and south sides, a two-light window with geometrical tracery on the west side, and a two-light window with louvres on the south side. The lower stage’s south wall has a single-light window, and the main west window features three cinque-foiled lights with Perpendicular tracery, moulded reveals, and a label with head stops. The north porch has a reset doorway from the early 16th century, with a four-centred arch set in a square head, bearing foliage carving in the spandrels. The north side of the nave has two two-light windows with Perpendicular tracery; the western window is a 19th-century copy, while the eastern window is original from the 15th century and has been reset. A similar window is present in the vestry, along with a door with a chamfered head on its east elevation. The north wall of the chancel incorporates a reset 15th-century single-light window with a cinquefoil head. The east window has three lights with Perpendicular tracery, and the south chancel wall has similar windows. The south wall of the nave features buttresses at the corners and three windows, each with two cinque-foiled lights and a quatrefoil at the head; the outer windows are 15th-century and have been reset, while the central one is a 19th-century copy.

Inside, the walls are plastered. The arch leading to the tower has a panelled soffit, and the 19th-century chancel arch has attached shafts with octagonal caps. The nave has a wagon roof supported by arch-braced trusses resting on carved corbels, while the chancel has a 19th-century pointed barrel roof, both boarded internally. The porch roof is a trussed rafter design.

Notable fittings include a 15th-century octagonal font with a tapered bowl, a moulded edge, a splayed underside with small cusped and foliage panels, a plain stem, and a moulded base. Stained glass in the west window of the porch is dated to the 15th century and displays the coat of arms of Sherborne Abbey. The pews, pulpit, and altar rail are 19th-century additions. A collection of thirteen 15th-century consecration crosses in relief have been reset on both the external and internal walls. The organ, built by TC Bates & Son of London, features a Gothic case.