Church Of St Mary Magdalene, Adjoining Sherborne House

Church of St Mary Magdalene, adjoining Sherborne House

An Anglican parish church of late 13th to early 14th-century origin, with significant mid-19th century rebuilding. The nave was rebuilt, possibly by Anthony Salvin, for the 2nd Lord Sherborne and completed by 1859. The building is constructed of ashlar with a slate roof.

The church comprises a nave and chancel with a tower at the south-west corner of the nave, and a vestry on the south side.

The tower dates to the late 13th to early 14th century. It is a three-stage structure with a moulded plinth and an octagonal broach spire with ribbed decoration, four lucarnes at the base and towards the apex, and a facetted stair turret at its south-west corner.

The 19th-century additions include a double plank door with fillets set within a pointed surround with a stopped hood, flanked by two small engaged columns. Above this is a two-light window within a pointed surround topped by a quatrefoil. The belfry window is tall with two lights, a quatrefoil, and wooden louvres to the third stage.

The gable end of the nave has a flat-chamfered plinth with a deep band displaying blind quatrefoil decoration and plain shields above. A pointed three-light window with Decorated style tracery and a hood with foliate stops is set within this gable. A large blind quatrefoil within a moulded circular surround is positioned towards the apex. Set-back buttresses with crocketed pinnacles occupy the corners.

The north wall features five two-light windows with cinquefoil-headed lights, cinquefoils, and hoods with foliate stops, separated by buttresses. A 19th-century double door with fillets sits within a moulded Tudor-arched surround with a square hood and foliate stops towards the right end. A four-light window with Decorated style tracery is also present. Diagonal buttresses with crocketed pinnacles stand at the corners. A flat-roofed vestry and short corridor with pointed archways are located on the south side of the nave.

The interior comprises two bays at the west end forming the entrance, followed by an 8½-bay nave terminating in a pointed arch with engaged 13th-century style columns. The single-bay chancel has a pointed arch with 13th-century style engaged columns and a moulded hood with foliate stops. The roof structure consists of 19th-century arch-braced trusses with collars and V-struts rising from corbels with highly ornate foliate carving. The chancel and entrance area at the west end have panelled roofs.

Flooring comprises flagstone and parquet. Furnishings include an ornately carved 19th-century octagonal font, a 19th-century octagonal wood pulpit, a 19th-century rood screen in matching style, and 19th-century choir stalls with foliate carving. A 20th-century communion rail features finely carved festoons of flowers, and the nave contains freestanding chairs.

The church is most notable for its finely executed monuments. These include a fine white and grey marble monument by M. Rysbrack, dated 1749, to Sir John Dutton, baronet (died 1742), depicting a full figure of a man leaning on an urn. Opposite stands a monument by Richard Westmacott the Elder, dated 1791, to James and Jane Dutton (died 1776), in which a life-sized angel leans on a medallion with profiles of the deceased, with a prostrate skeleton beneath representing death. Left of the chancel arch is a trefoil-headed niche containing a full figure of a woman holding a cross commemorating James, first Lord Sherborne (died 1820). A white and grey marble monument to Frances Mary, Princess Bariatinsky (died 1807), features figures of two women and a child above an urn.

The north wall of the nave bears a fine monument to John Dutton (died 1657) by T. Burman, comprising a shrouded upright effigy in white marble within a round-headed niche flanked by black marble columns with Corinthian capitals and a scrolled pediment bearing the Sherborne arms, with inscription plaques either side and an inscription below. An adjacent monument commemorates Thomas Dutton (died 1587), William Dutton (died 1618), and Thomas Dutton, son of William (died 1610), comprising a simple black marble plaque within a white marble surround. A further monument honours Emily Theresa Sherborne, wife of Edward, fourth Lord Sherborne, and Edward Dutton, fourth Lord Sherborne (died 1919), with another to the Honourable Charles Dutton (died 1909). Additional monuments to members of the Dutton family are located on the south wall of the nave, notably a white and black marble monument to William Napier, third son of James Dutton (died 1791), signed by J. Bacon, featuring an urn and a bird plucking its feathers.

The sanctuary contains an 18th-century ledger, with three further 18th-century ledgers at the west end. The church features 19th-century stained glass in the windows at the east and west ends, and gilded hanging electric light fittings of foliate design.