Parish Church of St Mary
PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY, FORE STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1118952
- Date first listed:
- 08-Apr-1983
- List Entry Name:
- Parish Church of St Mary
- Statutory Address:
- PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY, FORE STREET
Have you got a photo to share?
Join the Missing Pieces Project. We want you to share your photos and memories.
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-10-09
- Reference:
- IOE01/05514/09
- Rights:
- © Mr Harold T. F. Jenkins. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1118952
- Date first listed:
- 08-Apr-1983
- List Entry Name:
- Parish Church of St Mary
- Statutory Address 1:
- PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY, FORE STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY, FORE STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Dorset (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Thorncombe
- National Grid Reference:
- ST 37599 03346
Details
ST 3703
7/101
THORNCOMBE,
FORE STREET (north side),
Parish Church of St Mary
GV II
Church. Built in 1866-7 by James Mountford Allen in perpendicular style. Nave with North and South aisles. South transept; chancel; West Tower; South porch; Vestry at North-East Corner. Rubble masonry with some freestone blocks. Stone dressings for plinths, window surrounds, strings, parapets. Slate roof. Exterior: moulded plinths, strings, labels with some head stops, embattled parapet. Windows of 2-4 lights with panel, tracery over ogee trefoil-cusped main lights. South transept window with Y-tracery; East window with Through King-mullions. Tower of 4 stages with diagonal buttresses and stair-turret in North-East angle. West door. Large perp-style bell-openings. Interior: Nave with 4-bay arcade. Piers: each of 4 equal straight-chamfered responds with sunk quadrants in the diagonals. Plain capitals with moulded abaci and neckings. Chancel arch carried on 2 orders of responds with still-leaf capitals. Strainer-arch set transversely between arcade wall and South trancept South wall. Nave roof of alternate tie-beam and arch-traced collar construction carried on carved stone corbels. Through purlins with ashlaring at wall-plate. Chancel roof of arch-braced construction, ceiled and carried on angel-corbels.
Interior features: Font, re-used stone block of capital shape on a stone base. Bowl possible C12. Brasses: of Sir Thomas Brook (d1419) and his wife Dame Joan Brook (1437) Full-length: Sir Thomas with SS collar. Inscription on rectangular margin intact, recording dates of death. Relaid and restored in 1867. Pulpit oak, 13-sided with linen-fold panels in 2 tiers, early C16, some replaced panels. Communion Table, late C16, walnut with bulbous turned legs supporting Ionic capitals. Reading Desk: C17. Flemish-style, with caryatids and foliage decoration. Stained glass: North aisle window in memory of Rev C A Bragge (d1923) and wife Emily. The church is set well back in the churchyard from Fore Street and forms a group.
Sources R.C.H.M. Dorset I, p. 239(1).
Listing NGR: ST3759903346
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 104609
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Inventory of Dorset, (1974), 239
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 12-Jun-2026 at 19:34:57.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.