Stockwood, Dorset
Encyclopedia
Stockwood is a village in west Dorset
, England
, around eight miles south-west of Sherborne
and less than a mile away from Chetnole
railway station on the Heart of Wessex Line
. There are a few houses on the road leading to the A37
between Yeovil
and Dorchester.
St Edwold’s Church
is often described as Dorset's smallest. The church nestles next to a farmhouse directly under the wooded heights of Bubb Down. The porch has the date "1636" inscribed, reflecting the fact that the church was rebuilt to some extent in the seventeenth century. However, John Newman and Nikolaus Pevsner
in their Buildings of England volume describe it as "Perp, with Henry VIII side windows and a three-light E window with panel tracery," and also refer to the "delightfully naive bell-turret, round, with a cap on four stumpy columns and a big grotesque face." Inside, the church is very plainly furnished. The dedication to St Edwold (9th century) is unique in Dorset. Edwold was the brother of St Edmund the Martyr
, King of East Anglia
, and he lived as a recluse at nearby Cerne
after his sibling’s death. It is not entirely clear why Stockwood church is dedicated to Edwold, but Kenneth Smith's guidebook suggests that he may have also had a cell here as well as at Cerne. The Church is a Grade I listed building and is cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust
.
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, around eight miles south-west of Sherborne
Sherborne
Sherborne is a market town in northwest Dorset, England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. The population of the town is 9,350 . 27.1% of the population is aged 65 or...
and less than a mile away from Chetnole
Chetnole
Chetnole is a village in west Dorset, England, seven miles south of Sherborne. There are around 128 houses in the village. It has a public house in the heart of the village called The Chetnole Inn which is in the Michelin Guide, and was named The Best Freehouse in the UK by the Great British Pub...
railway station on the Heart of Wessex Line
Heart of Wessex Line
The Heart of Wessex Line, also known as the Bristol to Weymouth line, is a United Kingdom railway line that runs from Bristol to Westbury to Weymouth...
. There are a few houses on the road leading to the A37
A37 road
The A37 is a major road in southern England. It runs north from the A35 at Dorchester in Dorset into Somerset through Yeovil and Shepton Mallet before terminating at the Three Lamps junction with the A4 in central Bristol...
between Yeovil
Yeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...
and Dorchester.
St Edwold’s Church
St Edwold's Church, Stockwood
St Edwold's Church in Stockwood, Dorset, England was rebuilt in the 15th century. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust...
is often described as Dorset's smallest. The church nestles next to a farmhouse directly under the wooded heights of Bubb Down. The porch has the date "1636" inscribed, reflecting the fact that the church was rebuilt to some extent in the seventeenth century. However, John Newman and Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
in their Buildings of England volume describe it as "Perp, with Henry VIII side windows and a three-light E window with panel tracery," and also refer to the "delightfully naive bell-turret, round, with a cap on four stumpy columns and a big grotesque face." Inside, the church is very plainly furnished. The dedication to St Edwold (9th century) is unique in Dorset. Edwold was the brother of St Edmund the Martyr
Edmund the Martyr
St Edmund the Martyr was a king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.D'Evelyn, Charlotte, and Mill, Anna J., , 1956. Reprinted 1967...
, King of East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, and he lived as a recluse at nearby Cerne
Cerne Abbas
Cerne Abbas is a village located in the valley of the River Cerne, between steep chalk downland in central Dorset, England. The village is located just to the east of the A352 road north of Dorchester. There was a population of 732 at the 2001 census, a figure which has fallen from 780 in 1998.In...
after his sibling’s death. It is not entirely clear why Stockwood church is dedicated to Edwold, but Kenneth Smith's guidebook suggests that he may have also had a cell here as well as at Cerne. The Church is a Grade I listed building and is cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968...
.