Church of St Mary is a Grade II* listed building in the Dorset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 31 July 1961. A Medieval Church.
Church of St Mary
- WRENN ID
- silent-clay-foxglove
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Dorset
- Constituency
- West Dorset MP: Edward Morello (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 31 July 1961
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Mary, Hermitage
- OS grid reference
- ST 649 069
- Coordinates
- 50.86104, -2.49912
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Mary is a parish church that likely originated in the 14th century, with significant restoration in the 17th century, possibly in 1682, and further rebuilding around 1800. It is constructed of coursed squared rubble with ashlar dressings and features a gable-ended stone slate roof. The west end has an ashlar bellcote topped with a ball finial and coping. The church has a chamfered plinth and a layout that includes a nave, chancel, and south porch.
The south nave windows consist of three uncusped lights with 'perpendicular' tracery, although the upper central mullions seem to be missing. The north nave windows have two lights under two-centred heads with 'flowing' tracery. The west nave wall features two windows, each with a single pointed light separated by a buttress. The east chancel window is similar to those on the north nave, while the south chancel wall contains a pair of lancet windows. The north chancel door has a two-centred head, and the south nave door features a chamfered, two-centred head with continuous jambs. The porch is gabled with a stone slate roof and has a two-centred, chamfered doorway with continuous jambs.
Inside, the church has ribbed plastered barrel vault roofs, likely from the 18th century, with the chancel roof adorned with carved bosses. There are 18th-century turned communion rails, a round font from the 17th century on an octagonal stem with a moulded capital, and 19th or 20th-century pulpit and pews. The chancel floor includes 17th-century slabs. A west buttress displays inscriptions dated 1682 and 1799, while the west wall has a reset medieval corbel, and the east wall features a reset head stop or corbel.
Local climate
Church of St Mary receives an average of 840 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 55% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 65% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 30 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 64% of listed buildings. Of these, 12 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
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