Nominal: 772 Hz Weight: 1400 lbs Diameter: 41.63" Bell 1 of 6
Founded by John Wallis 1621
Dove Bell ID: 4233 Tower ID: 15532 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: quarter Cracked: No
Long Crichel: St Mary
Diocese of Salisbury
Friendless Church, 634315
Grade II listed building
Historic England ID: 1323488
Overview
Grid reference: ST 977 102
A compact Gothic church in a rural setting, built of Ashlar and banded flint with Greenstone ashlar and dressings. It is comprised of a west tower, 4-bay nave, chancel, and transepts.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West tower, 4-bay nave; chancel; north and south transepts, the north of two bays and incorporating a vestry, with boiler house beneath.
Dimensions:
Nave 13m (40 feet) x 6m (18.5 feet).
Description of Archaeology and History
Crichel is mentioned in Domesday, but Long Crichel does not appear till the early 13th century, which may be the date of origin of this church. All that remains of the medieval building above ground is the 15th-century west tower, the rest of the church was rebuilt by an unknown architect after a devastating fire in 1853. The monumental brass in the chance and the font are the other most obvious survivals from the medieval church, an oak chest in the vestry would appear to be post-medieval in date. The building is virtually unchanged since the restoration.
Clearly the west end of the building and the entire site are of archaeological potential concerning the development of the church and churchyard. The immediate surrounding area is also crammed full of Prehistoric and Roman sites and monuments, particularly tumuli.
Exterior Description
The west tower is of two stages which would appear to be substantially late medieval, embattled with corner pinnacles and gargoyles. The parapet and pinnacles are very eroded. The belfry stage has two-light pointed windows with returned labels. It has diagonal buttresses at the west end and square set buttresses to the east, all of two weatherings. A recessed 19th-century south doorway with a pointed head and continuous mouldings under a projecting canopy functions as an entrance porch. The tower stands on a stepped plinth, and there is a string course just above this.
The walls of the nave have three 2-light rectangular windows with panel tracery separated by buttresses of two weatherings, 15th-century in style to match the tower. At eaves’ height is a carved corbel table, with heads and floral designs. The east nave gable is pierced by a trefoil opening above the lower chancel.
The south transept has a brattished parapet. The south window is of two lights under a 4-centred head and a label with carved stops. The west wall is pierced by a single-light, square-headed window, the east wall by a doorway with again a 4-centred head. The longer north transept of two bays is different in character, with two lancets under returned labels in the east and west walls. The north wall is has a pointed, traceried window, blind below the springing line and with a Star of David design in the head.
The chancel is apsidal and of ashlar throughout, with an openwork parapet. Crocketted pinnacles rise from buttresses of two weatherings. The walls are pierced by traceried single light windows under labels with carved stops.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
There is Victorian stained glass in all the windows, but as with the architect, the artist is unknown. Most have floral and geometric patterns, but the east window has the Crucifixion flanked by the Agnus Dei and the Dove in roundels. The west window three-light has texts and symbols relating to the Crucifixion; it is broken in one of the upper lights.
Interior
Interior Description
The interior retains in form and atmosphere something of the Georgian style surviving in this early Victorian Gothic design, particularly the long aisleless nave with its regular fenestration. The furnishings and fittings are of good quality, and a good deal of money was clearly spent on the restoration. A corona lucis is suspended from the flat painted ceiling in the internal porch under the tower. There is a crocketed ogee-headed niche in the east bay of the north nave wall, with the Ark carved in relief above a projecting bowl, presumably a stoup.
The nave is painted light yellow, details picked out in white. It has a gabled panelled ceiling, painted blue with white beams with a brattished wall-plate. The ceiling seems likely to have been inserted later, as it blocks off the trefoil opening in the east nave gable. The nave is fully pewed. The nave floor is of quarry tiles, with encaustic tiles in the crossing, transepts and chancel.
The chancel arch is of two orders of continuous mouldings, embellished with fleurons, as are the arches to the transepts. There are choir stalls within the arch to the north transept, integral with a wooden brattished screen which defines the vestry in the north bay behind it, accessible through a plain doorway. A harmonium stands in the south transept, which has an ornate panelled ceiling, gilded between scrolling beams. There is a marble grave slab with floriate cross, 19th-century, with an inset medieval brass on the north side of the sanctuary.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
1853
Oak table
Pulpit
1853
Hexagonal oak pulpit with carved blind tracery panels and a nicely carved projecting cornice, en suite curved hand rail and steps
Lectern
1853
Wooden reading stand
Font (object)
Late 15th Century
Purbeck marble font with octagonal, panelled bowl and arcaded panelled stem, probably of the late 15th century, the bowl carved with shields within quatrefoils. Plain wooden lid, 19th-century.
Brass
1360
Reset brass plate to John Govys, the earliest example in Dorset, with short inscription in French, and a separate plate with a heraldic lion’s head, both set into a black marble slab with a relief floriate cross, probably Victorian.
Organ (object)
1930
Harmonium with 11 stops by Story & Clark of Chicago, with an elaborate architectural baroque case. Stands in the south transept.
Bells
Nominal: 1289 Hz Weight: 616 lbs Diameter: 29.38" Bell 2 of 6
Founded by John Warner & Sons 1863
Dove Bell ID: 29551 Tower ID: 15532 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1150 Hz Weight: 700 lbs Diameter: 30.5" Bell 3 of 6
Founded by John Warner & Sons 1863
Dove Bell ID: 29552 Tower ID: 15532 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1025.5 Hz Weight: 756 lbs Diameter: 31.5" Bell 4 of 6
Founded by John Warner & Sons 1863
Dove Bell ID: 29553 Tower ID: 15532 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 968.5 Hz Weight: 868 lbs Diameter: 33.75" Bell 5 of 6
Founded by John Warner & Sons 1863
Dove Bell ID: 29554 Tower ID: 15532 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 852 Hz Weight: 1092 lbs Diameter: 37.25" Bell 6 of 6
Founded by John Warner & Sons 1863
Dove Bell ID: 29555 Tower ID: 15532 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Churchyard
Grid reference: ST 977 102
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | N/A |
| Solar Thermal Panels | N/A |
| Biomass | N/A |
| Wind Turbine | N/A |
| Air Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ev Charging | N/A |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
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