Church Of St Michael

GUSSAGE ST MICHAEL ST 91 SE

5/46 Church of St Michael 18.3.55 GV I

Parish Church, C12 west tower, C13 nave and aisles; south aisle rebuilt C14; C15 upper stage of tower, north porch and some refenestration; 1857 chancel; late C19 north vestry; 1857 work by G E Street. Flint with squared rubble blocks and ashlar dressings, tower part rendered. Slated and tiled roofs with clerestory to nave. Plan: nave; chancel; north aisle; south aisle; west tower; north vestry; north porch. West tower: 3-stage with embattled parapet; original flat buttress to west; lower stage has square loops; second stage has C14 trefoiled loops; upper floor has C15 pointed belfry windows of 2 lights with quatrefoils in head. North porch has a moulded 4-centred arch. North aisle has a C15 square-headed 3-light window. Vestry and chancel have square-headed north and south windows of one and 2 lights. East chancel window with plate tracery of 3 trefoiled lights. Pointed, chamfered C19 south chancel door. South aisle has a C13 lancet east and 2 square-headed, Perpendicular tracery windows of 2-lights to the south wall. To the left is a blocked, pointed, chamfered door. Cl7 plank door to north doorway with wrought-iron strap hinges.

Internal features: C19 pointed chancel arch reusing earlier material; C12 round headed tower arch with alternating greensand and heathstone voussoirs; 2 bay pointed arcades springing from cylindrical piers with moulded caps and bases, the south cap having some dog-tooth ornamentation; C15, 3-bay nave roof with tie-beams and king-posts; C16 moulded beam roof to north aisle; C13 font with circular bowl on cylindrical stem; C15 tre- foiled niche above porch arch; other features largely C19. (RCHM, Dorset, vol V, p 22-23, no. 1, Newman,J and Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 1972, p 219).

Listing NGR: ST9858511332