Monument record MDO8367 - St Aldhelm's Chapel, Worth Matravers

A late 12th century chapel, restored in the early 19th century and in 1873; it is situated within an earthwork enclosure. The list description suggests that it may have been built as the undercroft of an uncompleted tower rather than as a church. Listed.

St Aldhelm's Chapel situated on St Aldhelm's Head is of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings and has a pyramidal roof. The chapel was built in the late 12th century, possibly to incorporate a sea-mark, and was served, at least in the 13th century, by a royal chaplain. It was restored in the early 19th century and in 1873. The building, of one compartment with angles pointing approximately to the cardinal points has a series of buttresses, four of which were added in post-medieval times. At the apex of the roof is a short cylindrical ashlar pier, now supporting a cross erected in 1873, but perhaps originally carried up more prominently as a sea mark for shipping; the suggestion that it provided the base for a fire-beacon seems untenable. The chapel stands on a 2ft high platform in the middle of an irregular earthwork enclosure defined by a bank, at most 3ft high externally and 1 1/2ft high internally; it probably contains stones. No certain entrance is visible, but a slight, possibly original, gap occurs on the north east. In addition to the chapel, which is at the centre of the enclosure, the interior contains on the south west, a later ditch 2ft deep, which cuts the back of the bank at the west corner and turns through two near right angles towards the chapel door. Between the ditch and bank on the south west is a slight rectangular platform, possibly the site of a building, and a shallow rectangular depression on the south which may be of similar origin. Plan. <2> No change: earthworks surveyed at 1:2500. <4> The outer enclosure is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs <6> and was digitally plotted during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

Record last edited

Mar 10 2024 6:02PM