Abbey Church of St Mary, St Sansom and St Branwalader

ABBEY CHURCH OF ST MARY, ST SANSOM AND ST BRANWALADER

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed building
List Entry Number:
1304822
Date first listed:
14-Jul-1955
Statutory Address:
ABBEY CHURCH OF ST MARY, ST SANSOM AND ST BRANWALADER
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Date:
2001-06-30
Reference:
IOE01/06188/03
Rights:
© Mr JE Leeson. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed building
List Entry Number:
1304822
Date first listed:
14-Jul-1955
Statutory Address 1:
ABBEY CHURCH OF ST MARY, ST SANSOM AND ST BRANWALADER

Location

Statutory Address:
ABBEY CHURCH OF ST MARY, ST SANSOM AND ST BRANWALADER

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

District:
Dorset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:
Milton Abbas
National Grid Reference:
ST 79832 02296

Details

MILTON ABBAS ST 7902 MILTON ABBEY

12/135 Abbey Church of Saint 14-7-55 Mary, Saint Sansom and Saint Branwalader GV I

Consecrated ecclesiastical building - formerly church of a Benedictine Abbey. Mainly C14, upper part of tower and north transept C15. Restored c1790. J Wyatt, and 1865, Sir Gilbert Scott. Walls of stone and flint, ashlar dressings. Lead roofs with parapets. Choir with north and south aisles, north and south trancepts, crossing tower, west porch. Nave and aisles not rebuilt after fire in C14. East wall has a 7-light window with cusped lights. Below this, remains of arches and vault of former ambulatory. In north wall, remains of arches of former sacristy. This wall of 7 bays, buttressed, buttresses carried up as pinnacles. Flying buttresses to clerestory. Aisle has 3-light windows with geometrical tracery. Pierced parapet with quatrefoils. Clerestory windows alternately of 2 and 3 lights, with similar tracery. Similar parapet. In north transept, remains of arches and vault to former cloister. North window of 8 lights, mullioned and transomed, with perpendicular tracery. Pierced parapet with quatrefoils and pinnacles. West wall has built-up moulded arches (to projected nave and aisles) with attached shaftes and moulded caps. Similar shaftes and start of arches and walls to projected nave and aisles. Crossing tower has flat buttresses carried up above parapet as pinnacles. Pierced parapet as before. In belfry, each face has two 2-light windows with Perpendicular tracery. Porch, C19, has flat roof with pierced parapet and gargoyles. Angle buttresses with gabled tops. Pointed arched doorway. West wall of north transept has two 3-light windows with Perpendicular tracery, one extending to floor level. West wall of south transept has 3 windows at upper and 2 at lower level, all with geometrical tracery. South elevation of choir similar to north. South transept window of 7 lights with geometrical tracery. Interior: choir of 7 bays, has 1st, 3rd and 5th bays from east filled in solid. Columns with attached shafts and moulded arches. Quadripartite vaults to choir and aisles. No triforium in choir, but gallery under south transept windows. Lierne vaults in transepts; fan vault to crossing. C14 pulpitum under east tower arch. C15 reredos with canopied niches. C14 sedilia south of choir. C15 pyx shrine on north choir wall. C18 marble alter in south choir aisle. C18 monument by A Carlini, to Lady Milton, in north transept. Monuments to Tregonwell and Bankes families in north choir aisle. A church of major importance. RCHM. Monument 1 (Dorset. Vol.III)

Listing NGR: ST7983002300

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:
103551
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Inventory of Dorset, (1970)

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 12 Dorset,

Legal

Ordnance survey map of Abbey Church of St Mary, St Sansom and St Branwalader

Map

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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.

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