St. Mary’s, Puddletown

St. Mary’s, Puddletown

Dorset is full of wonderful churches, there are almost too many to choose from but St. Mary’s must be one of the best. It appears in ‘1000 Best Churches’ and all the other church guides with good reason. It is open each day. The sign outside just mentions Sunday services but there is a very good welcome notice on the door into the porch.

Inside, there are some mugs, coasters, cards, post cards and church guides for sale, as well as a village trail. 17 visitors had signed the visitors book during July. A good children’s area with some of their work displayed. Pictures of the church staff and PCC are displayed which is a good idea. The churchyard burial plan is in a folder which will be useful for those tracing family. A Living Churchyard display also – which seems to be a common feature in Dorset churches. Some ‘bats’ are available to wander around with. There is a prayer request board – well used as usual.

This is a very atmospheric church. The box pews, gallery and three decker pulpit and other fittings date from 1635 – a rare survival as many, many churches were ‘restored’ by Victorian architects.

I think that that the best thing about St. Mary’s is the Athelhampton Chapel which has been well preserved in recent years – details are available to read through with guides and ‘bats’ about this.

This is a wonderful church to visit and I rate it as good for the purposes of this study. There isn’t a church website but there is a presence on achurchnearyou but nothing about visitors. There is a link to a parish website but this seems defunct.