Blackdown Beaminster
01308 862320
http://www.beaminsterteamchurches.org

Holy Trinity Blackdown is part of the Beaminster Area Team Ministry which covers 50 square miles of beautiful rural West Dorset. The team consists of 14 individual parishes plus the chapel in the grounds of Mapperton House. Our worship shows a wonderful variety of styles ranging from services from the Book of Common Prayer to the child-centred Messy Church, with music a vital part of our activities.

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The Toleration Acts of 1689 allowed freedom of worship to protestant non-conformists and meeting places began to appear throughout the land. One such was at Blackdown, which was built c.1705.

In the 19thC a Chapel of Ease, a plain rectangular building with stone and chert walls, slate roof and a bell turret was built due to the efforts of Archdeacon G A Denison of Broadwinsor who contributed £1,000 some of which had come from private loans and some from the Queen Anne's Bounty Bond. The new building was fully equipped, well decorated and thanks to a wooden gallery could seat 250. Dedicated to the Holy Trinity it was consecrated by the Bishop of Salisbury on 22 April 1840.

In 1958 the church installed electric lighting, but there was still an old iron stove used for heating. Then on 16/17 December 1961, in the time of Rev F B Horsey the church caught fire, and all that remained were the stonewalls. It was once thought it was the action of the Chard Fire Bug, see clippings, but it was probably caused by excessive heat from the stove chimney, which had been lit for the next day's service and which went up besides the gallery timber.

Broadwindsor Beaminster
01308 862320
http://www.beaminsterteamchurches.org

The Beaminster Area Team Ministry covers 50 square miles of beautiful rural West Dorset and consists of 14 individual parishes plus the chapel in the grounds of Mapperton House. Our worship shows a wonderful variety of styles ranging from services from the Book of Common Prayer to the child-centred Messy Church, with music a vital part of our activities.

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The church is situated in a high commanding position in the centre of the village and it is probable that there has been a Christian building on this site since Anglo-Saxon times, but the structural evidence in the present building takes us back as far as the llth century when it was probably a simple cruciform shape.

Towards the middle of the 12th c the south aisle was added. The pillars can be dated by their scalloped capitals and are considered Norman in style and, except for one, remain in their original positions. Around the year 1230 the north aisle was added and the pillars, which date from that period, are the 1st and 3rd, counting from the western end of church, and are Early English in style. During the 13th/14th centuries the tower was built at the west end and much of that original stonework survives and the chancel was extended eastwards doubling its original length. In the 15th century a porch was added to the south door which is itself 14th century.

For the next 300 years restoration work concentrated on interior furnishings, a double decker gallery being added in the late 17th or early 18th century. The upper gallery being reserved for the choir that consisted of any villagers who possessed musical instruments and could play them. In 1818 the ancient rood screen was removed.

In the middle of the 19c the fabric of the church was very dilapidated and the Revd. Soloman Caesar Malan set in motion a major restoration and rebuilding programme. The nave and aisles were extended eastwards thus shortening the chancel and a small vestry was added.

Drimpton Beaminster
01308 862320
http://www.beaminsterteamchurches.org

Drimpton St Mary is part of the Beaminster Area Team Ministry which covers 50 square miles of beautiful rural West Dorset. The team consists of 14 individual parishes plus the chapel in the grounds of Mapperton House. Our worship shows a wonderful variety of styles ranging from services from the Book of Common Prayer to the child-centred Messy Church, with music a vital part of our activities.

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There has been a Methodist Chapel in Netherhay since 1838 but Church of England folk had to travel to Broadwindsor for services. The building of a chapel of ease "to hold a congregation of 100" commenced in 1863 on land belonging to the John Gould charity. The money for the building of the chapel having been "solicited from friends and neighbours". Among those to give was Archbishop Trench of Dublin who forwarded a donation with the words "Poor Ireland sends £2 to rich England". The stone was given by Capt Spurway, a local landowner, but the building still cost £584, in today's money £34,000; it took 3 years to build and 7 years to pay for.

It was consecrated on 21st July 1867 by the Rt. Rev. Walter Hamilton Bishop of Salisbury. On that day there were two services; at the actual consecration service only those who had received invitations were allowed in the chapel, the rest of the villagers who wished to be present having to remain in the churchyard. At the evening service, so the story goes, 27 candidates came forward for baptism although only 18 were actually baptised that day. When built the chapel was in the parish of Broadwindsor; Drimpton became a separate parish in 1982 at which time St. Mary's became the Parish Church.

 

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squirrelinn.co.uk/

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