Bloxworth Church, also known as Saint Andrews, is a Grade 1 listed building located in the village of Bloxworth in Dorset, England. The church has a long history, with the first mention of Bloxworth Manor being held by Cerne Abbey dating back to the late 10th century. In the 12th century, a small chapel was built on the site, and the only remaining feature from this period is the moulded north porch archway. Over the centuries, the church has undergone multiple modifications, with extensive work carried out in the 14th, 17th and 19th centuries.
One of the most notable additions to the church came in the 14th century with the construction of a tower. According to a popular story, a third bell was removed from the tower and sold to be converted into a brewing copper. This bell was later installed at Bloxworth House, the first house in Dorset to be built mostly from brick. The house achieved fame in the 1960s when it was used as Bathsheba Everdine’s house in the film adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel, “Far From the Madding Crowd”.
Other significant features of Bloxworth Church include the font, which dates back to the 13th century and was relocated to the tower during the 19th-century restoration. The nave of the church has a 17th-century barrel ceiling with painted shields and royal emblems added during the 19th-century renovation. Stained glass windows were also installed during this time in memory of the Pickard-Cambridge family. In 1868, The Reverend Octavius Pickard-Cambridge became Rector and oversaw the restoration of the church, including the rebuilding of the chancel as a memorial to his father.
The church also includes a north transept, known as The Savage Pew, which is also barrel-vaulted, with 17th-century painted cartouches of the Savage family arms. Sir George Savage, whose grandfather built Bloxworth House in 1608, attempted to establish a connection with the prominent Savage family of Cheshire through the artwork in this section of the church. However, subsequent research has shown that there was no real connection between the two families.
Other features of the church include a pulpit and lectern, which were commissioned by Reverend Pickard-Cambridge during the 19th-century renovation. The pulpit includes an hourglass, which was traditionally used in churches after the reformation to limit sermons to one hour. Sadly, the original hourglass, which dated back to 1683, was stolen in 2003, making it a rare and valuable antique.
On the east external gable of the building are two niches housing the statues of St Peter with a key and St Andrew with his cross. The 19th-century restoration was completed in a mix of flint and stone to match the original stonework of the 14th-century tower.
One of the most well-known events held at Bloxworth Church is the annual Dorset Carol Service, which features 19th-century carols and celebrates Christmas with “joy and pious mirth”. The original eight carols from this collection form the nucleus of the Bloxworth collection and have been sung at Bloxworth every Christmas since at least the beginning of the 19th century.
In 2013, the Dorset Historic Churches Trust contributed £6,000 towards essential repairs needed to the church tower and roof, which had a total cost of almost £17,000. Other organisations, including the Erskine Mouton Trust and the Wolfson Foundation, as well as local fundraising efforts, also helped to fund the repairs.
Bloxworth Church has been visited and admired by many over the years, including Sir Frederick Treves, who described it in his book, “Highways and Byways of Dorset”, as a “perfect village church” with a “low, ivy-covered tower of sandstone”. However, in 1951, Nikolaus Pevsner found Bloxworth to be in an “unhappily transitional state”, with many of the traditional red brick thatched cottages in the village derelict or demolished and new, less attractive housing developments built for commuters from nearby Bournemouth.
Despite these changes in and around the village of Bloxworth over the centuries, the church remains a cherished and admired part of the community, with its historic features and annual events attracting visitors from far and wide.
Posted by Chris Belsten on 2023-02-18 12:41:44