Historic Churches in Dorset

St John's church dates to the 12th century, with much rebuilding in the 13th and 14th centuries. Inside the church s an early 12th-century effigy of a priest, and in the churchyard is the grave of James Hammett, one of the Tolpuddle Martyrs exiled to Australia for trying to start a trade union.
Dorchester Road, Tolpuddle, Dorset, England, DT2 7EW

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Heritage Highlight: 12th-century effigy of a priest

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St Candida and Holy Cross is the only parish church in England to have a saint's shrine and relics. The saint is Wite, a Saxon healer, who was murdered by the Danes and whose shrine became a destination for medieval pilgrims. This is a magical church, full of historic interest.
Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset, England, DT6 6RQ

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Heritage Highlight: 13th century shrine of St Wite

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The site of Whitcombe church has been in use since the Saxon period, and remnants of two Saxon crosses stand in the churchyard. The oldest part of the current church is the 12th-century nave, with the addition of a 15th-century chancel and a late 16th-century two-storey west tower.
Whitcombe, Dorset, England, DT2 8NY

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Heritage Highlight: Medieval wall painting of St Christopher and a mermaid

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The Minster church of Wimborne stands on the site of a Saxon church attached to an early 8th-century nunnery established by Cuthberga, sister of King Ina. St Cuthburga's nunnery grew to house over 500 nuns and lasted until 1013 when it was destroyed in a Danish raid.
High Street, Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England, BH211EB

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Heritage Highlight: 17th century chained library

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There has been a church in the little Dorset village of Wimborne St Giles since at least 1207 when the first rector is recorded. The church stands beside a row of attractive almshouses erected in 1624.
Village Green, Wimborne St Giles, Dorset, England

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Heritage Highlight: Fantastic 17th-century memorial to Sir Anthony Ashley

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The small country church of St Peter at Winterborne Came stands beside the manor of Came House. The church is mostly 14th and 15th century, with some Victorian remodelling.
Winterborne Came, Dorset, England, DT2 8NT

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Heritage Highlight: Grave of the Dorset poet William Barnes

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St Andrew's church in Winterborne Tomson is a wonderfully simple single-cell church, distinctive for its rare rounded apse. St Andrew's stands in an idyllic position beside a historic manor house.
Off Marsh Lane, Winterborne Tomson, Dorset, England, DT11 9HA

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This delightful church dates to the 13th century. The restored 15th-century pulpit is generally thought to have been brought here from nearby Milton Abbey. The wonderful font dates to around 1450 and is composed of a bowl decorated with vine leaf carvings, unusual for this period, supported on a central stem with four ornamented legs.
Chescombe Lane, Winterborne Whitechurch, Dorset, England, DT11 0AN

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St Nicholas of Myra is one of the oldest churches in Dorset, begun no later than AD 1100. The church has a blocked Saxon doorway, and a fascinating corbel table of over 30 carved figures including grotesque beasts, humans, and a sheela-na-gig. In the churchyard is the grave of Benjamin Justy, the first person known to inoculate against smallpox by using cowpox vaccine.
Worth Matravers, Dorset, England, BH193LQ

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Heritage Highlight: Early Norman corbel table of carved figures

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