Stoke Sub Hamdon United Reformed Church

ST4717 STOKE SUB HAMDON CP NORTH STREET (West side) 6/329 Stoke sub Hamdon United Reformed Church - GV II* United Reform Church. 1866, by Robert C. Bennett of Weymouth. Ham stone, squared and boasted, ashlar dressings; Welsh slate roof to steep pitch between coped gables, with ornamental clay tiled ridge. In a C13/14 Gothic style, almost like in Anglican parish church. Single-storey with basement and gallery. Gable elevation to street, with south-east corner low tower with spirelet: gable has central porch with cinquefoil cusped archway and gabled front with finials and double buttresses to corners, terminating in gabletted finials; above a narrow 7-light Geometric-style traceried window with very thin members, under arched label, with cusped triangular gable vent over and final crocketted finial; side and corner buttresses. Tower projects slightly with plinth, cill course and strings making it effectively 3 stages, corner buttresses set on flying buttresses which span the deep basement area all round the church: lowest stage has 2 small cusped lancets on east face, and pointed arched doorway to south; stage 2 has a 2-light traceried pointed- arched window to these two sides, with clock faces over, then stepped offsets to the octagonal base of the spirelet, braced by flying buttresses to each corner, and the spirelet itself. The south side elevation has 5 bays of plain lancet windows with buttresses between, again seated on flying buttresses over basement area, where there is also one cusped lancet window to each bay: north elevation similar. To west a lower 2 storey 4-bay extension with lean-to on south side, with quatrefoil upper windows and cusped lancets below, with pointed-arched doorway to bay 2, buttresses to all bays: on west gable a small bell turret with bell. Good ornamental cast iron railings between flying buttresses, with 3-leaf tops to standards and Gothic-arched panels. Interior has usual arrangement with gallery at east end and large 'chancel' arch at west with organ and choir behind; some pews removed to give more dignified space. In undercroft large rooms now used as playschool, etc., and suite of small rooms at west end. The church probably the successor of Presbyterian meetings begun in village c1715; this church replaced the nearby 'barn chapel', being built at the instigation of Richard Southcombe, local glover, whose employees were 'expected to attend' this church. (VCH Vol III, 1974; Information from Revd Wiggins, Minister).

Listing NGR: ST4733417531