Blandford St Mary (St. Mary)

St. Mary's Church, Blandford St. Mary, Dorset

Blandford St Mary is connected to Blandford Forum by means of a bridge over the River Stour. The church is in the part of the village now stranded on the other side of the bypass. The body of the church is Perpendicular (15th century) in style, but was progressively rebuilt and enlarged in the 19th century, e.g. the south aisle (1837), the north aisle (1862) and arcade (1919). The west tower is probably 14th century and is unbuttressed.

The antiquary Browne Willis was born in the village in 1682.

Sources:

• John Hutchins, The history and antiquities of the County of Dorset, 3rd ed., edited by W. Shipp and J.W. Hodson, Westminster: J.B. Nichols, 1861-1873, Vol. 1, 1861, pp. 167-170.
• Arthur Mee, ed., Dorset: Thomas Hardy's country. The King's England. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939, pp. 36-37.
• John Newman and Nikolaus Pevsner, The buildings of England: Dorset. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, p. 101.
• F.P. Pitfield, Dorset parish churches, A-D. Milborne Port: Dorset Publishing Company, 1981, pp. 76-79.
• Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol. 3, Pt. 1 Central Dorset. London: HMSO, 1970, pp. 40-41.

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Maintained by Michael Day, Last updated: 10 September 2012.