Parish Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building in the Dorset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 11 November 1966. A Medieval Church.

Parish Church of St Mary

WRENN ID
keen-banister-thunder
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Dorset
Constituency
West Dorset MP: Edward Morello (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
11 November 1966
Type
Church
Period
Medieval
Address
Parish Church of St Mary, Wraxall
OS grid reference
ST 575 008
Coordinates
50.80543, -2.60351
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Parish Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building located in Wraxall. The church features a nave and chancel that date back to the 12th century, with 13th-century refenestration. A chapel, likely built in the 14th century on the north side of the nave, has since been demolished. The 19th-century additions include a bellcote and a south porch. The structure is made of stone and flint rubble, with freestone dressings. The roofs are covered with stone slate and slate, featuring stone gable copings and 19th-century crosses at the apexes.

The chancel has an east window with three lights from the 19th century, while both the north and south walls contain a single lancet window from the 13th century. The nave's south wall has three windows: an eastern lancet from the 13th century, a middle window from the 15th century with two trefoiled lights in a square head, and a western window similar in style but with moulded reveals. The south doorway, dating from the late 12th century, has been restored and features plain jambs, moulded imposts, and a moulded two-centred head adorned with chevron ornament and a label. A 20th-century plank-and-muntin door is present. The north wall includes a 14th-century two-centred arch with one chamfered order, and the former chapel has been replaced by a 19th-century wall on the outside face of the arch. A blocked 14th-century doorway with chamfered jambs and a two-centred head is also visible. The 19th-century bellcote on the west gable end of the nave is octagonal and features two lancets on each face.

Inside, the late 12th-century chancel arch is two-centred and consists of two orders, with the outer being square and the inner featuring a later hollow-chamfer cut on the edge. The responds have one half-round and one round attached column, both with scalloped capitals and moulded bases. To the north of the arch is a squint with a two-centred head. The font is a medieval stone octagonal bowl with a chamfered under edge, while the stem and base are from the 19th century. In the chancel, there is a wall monument to William Lawrence, Judge of Scotland, from 1681-1682, made of alabaster and marble, featuring scrolls, cherub heads, and a cartouche of arms.

Local climate

Parish Church of St Mary receives an average of 830 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 53% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 70% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 26 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 72% of listed buildings. Of these, 10 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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