Church of St Peter, Winterborne Came

Winterborne Came Church
Winterborne Came Church [James Purkiss 2003]

Church of St Peter

The small parish church of St Peter lies to the north-east of Came House immediately adjacent to the House's kitchen garden. It consists of a late 14th century nave, a chancel rebuilt and enlarged in the early 15th century and a tower from the later 15th century [Bettey 1997]. The square-headed windows were introduced at the same time as the tower [ibid]. The porch and the upper part of the tower date from the 17th century [Draper 1996, Dorset Churches Historic Trust 1988, Bettey 1997].The structure is in the perpendicular style [Newman & Pevsner 1972] and is constructed of local rubble stone with a slate roof [Bettey 1997]. The church was re-roofed in 1883 [English Heritage 2004].

William Barnes is buried to the south of the tower, the grave marked by a large cross, described as mock Saxon [Draper 1996] or simple Celtic [Bingham 1987]

The church has been cared for by the Churches Historical Trust since 1989 [Bettey 1997]. Much of the information on the contents of the church come from the Trust's booklet written by Dr Joseph Bettey and revised in 1997. Below information is set out as if walking from tower at the west of the church to the east.

The west tower has two bells. One dates from the 15th century, is incribed 'Sancta Maria' and comes from the Salisbury Foundry. One dates from the early 16th century, comes from an unknown local foundry and is inscribed 'Maria'. [Bettey 1997].

The font is late medieval and has a plain octagonal bowl in Ham Hill stone (from near Yeovil, Somerset) on a Portland Stone base. More information is to be found in the Martinstown website (by clinking links >village >village >font >Winterborne Came). Behind the font are two painted panels of the 10 commandments which date form the 19th century and are slightly newer than the pews.

The door dates from the 17th century - the time that the porch itself was built- and consists of oak timbers, metal nail studs and strap hinges [Bettey 1997].The pews date from the 19th century [Bettey 1997].

The pulpit, made of oak wood, is octagonal and is inscribed with the letters IM and the date 1624. the initials refer to John Mellor [ibid]. Accoridng to Newman & Pevsner, the pulpit dates from 1684 [Newman & Pevsner 1972].The 'elaborate' [Draper 1996] lectern was given by the Dawson-damer family in 1892 and has a carved figure of St Peter [Bettey 1997].The rood screen dates from the 16th century [Bingham 1987, Draper 1996] and has linenfold panels with vine-scroll tracery on the top. It was 'considerably restored' in the Arts and Crafts style [ Bettey 1997] and has a black painted inscription [Dorset Historic Churches Trust 1988] which reads: 'let us bear the conclusion of all things, fear God & keep his Commandments ___ that toucheth all men for God _ndgeth all things' The communion rails are made from oak and date from the early 17th century.

There are five windows with stained glass which date from the 19th century and most of which were given by the Dawson-Damer family, as follows:

List of rectors and curates taken from register information (dates of commencement and termination are therefore approximate)