Moor Crichel (Former Church of St. Mary)

View of Crichel House, including the former Church of St. Mary, Moor Crichel (under scaffolding), January 2014

The Church of St Mary, Moor Crichel was built in 1850 at the expense of Henry Charles Sturt, replacing an earlier medieval building. It can be found in the grounds of Crichel House, quite close to the lake. The architect is unknown, although the RCHME suggests that it might be George Alexander, based on comparisons made with Sutton Waldron. The church was declared redundant in 1973 and seems now to be an integral part of the Crichel Estate (a 1976 scheme under the Pastoral Measure 1968 enabled the Church Commissioners to give the building for use as a monument). There is no public access, although the building can be glimpsed from the road approaching Moor Crichel from the direction of Cranborne. Both the RCHME and Newman/Pevsner provide an account of the church's fittings, although it is not clear how much of this still remains in situ. The church is a Grade II* Listed Monument.

Sources:

• John Hutchins, The history and antiquities of the County of Dorset, 3rd ed., edited by William Shipp and James Whitworth Hodson, Westminster: J.B. Nichols and Sons, 1861-1873.
• Arthur Mee, ed., Dorset: Thomas Hardy's country. The King's England. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939, pp. 162-164.
• John Newman and Nikolaus Pevsner, The buildings of England: Dorset. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, p. 299.
• Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol. 5, East Dorset. London: HMSO, 1975, pp. 40-41: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol5/pp40-44
• Pastoral Measure 1968, London Gazette, No. 46907, p. 7284 (21 May 1976): https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/46907/page/7284/
• English Heritage Listing information (List entry Number: 1153658): http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1153658 (http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-107399-church-of-st-mary-moor-crichel-dorset)

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Maintained by Michael Day, Last updated: 27 January 2015.