Portland (St. John the Baptist, Fortuneswell)

St. John the Baptist, Fortuneswell (Portland)

1839, by Edward Monday.

From the report of the consecration published in the British Magazine:

Consecration of the New Church, Portland. - The island presented an unusual scene of bustle and activity on Saturday, Sept. 5, owing to the preparations for consecrating the new church ot St. John the Baptist, which has been built there during the last year. The Bishop of Salisbury [Edward Denison], who had slept at the residence of Archdeacon Buckle, at Upwey, arrived early, with the archdeacon and many of the clergy, and breakfasted with Captain Manning, at Portland Castle. His lordship, followed by the clergy, then proceeded up the north aisle to the communion-table, the bishop and clergy repeating alternately the verses of the 24th Psalm. At the conclusion of tbe service the bishop preached an admirably appropriate and most impressive sermon, from Matt, xxviii. 18-20. After the sermon a collection was made, amounting to 45l. 15s., which will be appropriated to the fund for building a parsonage house for the incumbent. [From: The British Magazine, Vol. XVIII (1840), p. 476]

Sources:

• Hutchins, J. 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.
• Mee, A., ed., Dorset: Thomas Hardy's country. The King's England. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939, pp. 186-191.
• Newman, J. and Pevsner, N., The buildings of England: Dorset. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, p. 343.
• Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol. 2, South-East Dorset. London: HMSO, 1970, pt. 2, pp. 249-250.
• Sackett, T. and Sackett, E., Francis Frith's Dorset Churches. Salisbury: Frith Book Co., 2000, p. 75.

To Dorset Churches Index Page

Maintained by Michael Day, Last updated: 25 August 2013.