Parish Church Of Holy Trinity

The Parish Church of Holy Trinity is a building with a history spanning several centuries, beginning in the 15th century. The west tower and chancel arch date to the 15th century, while the main nave and chancel were rebuilt in the 19th century, specifically in 1843. A vestry and organ chamber were added later, in 1885. The church is constructed of shallow rubble stone with slate roofs, featuring stone gable copings and fleur-de-lis apex blocks.

The west tower has two stages and incorporates diagonal buttresses with set-offs. It originally had a blocked west door with moulded jambs, now displaying a two-light window with cusping and Y-tracery. A string course runs around the tower, and a small loop is present in the bell stage. The bell stage has a flat parapet. A half-octagonal newel stair is located on the south wall, terminating below the string. The nave has three bays externally, with three-light windows featuring trefoil-cusped heads and tall panel tracery, each adorned with a quatrefoil fleuron. The window jambs are hollow-chamfered and date to the 19th century. A 19th-century north porch has a wide two-centred archway with a continuous bracket moulding, topped with a gabled slate roof and stone coping. The north doorway itself is partially from the late 14th century, exhibiting moulded jambs and a two-centred head. The chancel features a three-light east window with a design consistent with the nave windows and a label above.

Inside, the tower arch is moulded with two sets of responds and plain capitals. The nave has been 'Gothic' reworked and includes quadripartite vaulting divided into 4½ bays, bossed at the intersections with coloured blue responds and capitals. The roof is pointed segmentally profiled. The north doorway has a ‘Gothic’ surround with a curvilinear head and standards on either side. The chancel roof is barrel vaulted, divided into 16 compartments.

The church contains a stone octagonal font with a quatrefoil-in-circles design on an octagonal stem and base, dating back to the 15th century. There are two brasses on the north wall of the nave; one commemorating James Russell and Alys (Wise) from 1509, featuring the arms of Russell impaling Wise, and another commemorating John Russell and Elizabeth (Frocksmer) from 1505, displaying the arms of Russell impaling Frocksmer. Both brasses have been reset in 16th-century-style stone frames. A wall monument in the chancel is dedicated to James Napier and details the Napier family’s descent from Scotland to Dorset. This monument, erected in 1692, features a swan-necked pediment with skulls, a central urn, a cornice with palmette and cherub carvings, garlanded pilasters with carved fruit and flowers, and a coat of arms at the base.