Church of St Mary

Church of St Mary, High Street

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: I
List Entry Number:: 1172499
Date first listed:: 16-Aug-1960
List Entry Name:: Church of St Mary
Statutory Address:: Church of St Mary, High Street

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Date:: 2001-07-20
Reference:: IOE01/02116/05
Rights:: © Mr Murray Pearson. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: I
List Entry Number:: 1172499
Date first listed:: 16-Aug-1960
List Entry Name:: Church of St Mary
Statutory Address 1:: Church of St Mary, High Street

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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: Church of St Mary, High Street

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Dorset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Gillingham
National Grid Reference:: ST 80643 26582

Details

ST 8026 12/117

GILLINGHAM HIGH STREET (north side) Church of St Mary

16.8.60

GV I Parish church, chancel C14, main body of church 1838-1839, west tower 1908-1909, south chapel and vestries 1921. Main body of church by Walker (Pevsner), tower by C.E Ponting and south chapel and vestries by Caröe. Ashlar and coursed, squared rubble with ashlar dressings. Slate and lead roofs.

Plan: nave, chancel, west tower, north and south aisles and chapels, south vestry, north and south porches. Largely in the 'Decorated' style, windows having curvilinear tracery.

Chancel of five bays with two-light, C19 pointed windows and square-set three-weathered stage buttresses. C19, pointed, four-light east window. Moulded string course with ball-flower decoration and gargoyles. Nave has six-bay clerestory with lancets. North chapel and north and south aisle have windows uniform with those of the chancel. East window of north chapel, west window of north aisle and east and west windows of south aisle are of three-lights under pointed heads with vertical tracery. Two storeyed porches with coped gables and chamfered, pointed heads. Above doors and in east and west walls are windows uniform with those of the clerestorey. Three stage west tower with square-set buttresses to lower two stages, string courses and embattled parapet with crocketted corner finials. North face has no division into stages and has a rectangular vice turret. Pointed, moulded west door. Pointed, three-light west-window. Second stage has two-light, square-headed window and round window above. There are blind recesses north and south. Belfry windows of two-lights with pointed heads and panel tracery. South chapel has two-light, square headed windows with stopped labels and brattishing above.

Internal features: four-centred, chamfered chancel arch on foliage carved corbels; two-centred, chamfered tower arch; three bay, two-centred nave arcades on octagonal piers with capitals and bases; two bay north chapel arcade with two-centred arches of two chamfered orders; two segmental-pointed arches to the south chapel; tie-beam truss nave roof with cusped scissor-braces, supported on head corbels; chancel has tie-beam truss roof with king-posts on corbels; south chapel has highly decorated tie beam roof with king-posts; the south chapel contains much high quality C20 work and has two four-centred head doors to vestry; quatrefoiled piscina in chancel; C14 restored sedilia; C16 benches and bench ends incorporated in modern seating; carved reredos of 1925-1926 by H.P Burke Downing and Nathaniel Hitch; C15 font with octagonal bowl with paterae-much worn.

Monuments C17, C18 and C19 notably (1) that to Rev. John Jesop 1625 and Dr Thomas Jesop, with two recumbunt effigies under arches with strapwork decoration. (2) To Frances Dirdoe, 1724, large wall monument with relief of three Graces. (3) To Sir Henry Dirdoe 1724 and others of his family-wall monument by John Bastard and Co. (4) To Edward Read 1779, wall monument by F. Lancashire and Co.

Listing NGR: ST8064126583

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 102958
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Royal Commission on Historic Monuments; Inventory of Dorset Vol 4, (1972), 27-30
Pevsner, N, Newman, J, The Buildings of England: Dorset, (1972), 214-215

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.