Rampisham (St. Michael and All Angels)

St. Michael's Church, Rampisham, Dorset

The oldest part of the church is the 15th century tower. The chancel is by A. W. N. Pugin, dated 1845-47 while the body of the church is by John Hicks, 1859. Claudius J. P. Beatty (1982) notes that it is very much to the credit of the then Rector of Rampisham [the Rev. F. J. Rooke] that "he should have prevailed upon the scintillating genius [Pugin] ... to undertake this work." In the churchyard there remains the base of a massive churchyard cross.

Sources:

• C. J. P. Beatty, Thomas Hardy and the restoration of Rampisham church, Dorset. [S.l: s.n.], 1982. [This booklet is on sale at the Dorset County Museum].
• John Hutchins, The history and antiquities of the County of Dorset, 3rd ed., edited by William Shipp and J.W. Hodson, Westminster: J.B. Nichols, 1861-1873, Vol. x, pp. x.
• Arthur Mee, ed., Dorset: Thomas Hardy's country. The King's England. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939, pp. 202-203.
• John Newman and Nikolaus Pevsner, The buildings of England: Dorset. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, p. 356.
• Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), An Inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol. 1, West Dorset. London: HMSO, 1952, pp. 191-192.

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Maintained by Michael Day, Last updated: 11 March 2014.