Chilfrome

32 CHILFROME (D.d.)

(O.S. 6 in. XXX, S.W.)

Chilfrome is a small parish 6 m. W. of Cerne Abbas.

Ecclesiastical

(1) Parish Church of the Holy Trinity stands at the E. end of the parish. The walls are of flint and local stone rubble with freestone dressings; the roofs are tiled. The chancel-arch dates from the 13th century and the Nave is partly of the 14th century, but the Chancel was rebuilt c. 1852 and the rest of the church was restored in 1864.

Architectural Description—The Chancel is modern except for the partly restored 13th-century chancel-arch which is two-centred and of two continuous chamfered orders.

The Nave (33 ft. by 15¾ ft.) has, in the N. wall, a modern window and doorway; further W. is the blocking of a former window. In the S. wall are two windows, the eastern of the 15th century and of three cinque-foiled lights in a square head with moulded external reveals; the late 14th-century western window is of two trefoiled ogee lights with tracery in a square head. In the W. wall is a 15th-century two-light window with modern tracery and two-centred head.

Fittings—Bell: inaccessible, probably by Thomas Purdue, 1674. Chair: In chancel—with turned front legs, shaped arms and arched panel in back, 17th-century. Chest: In nave—with panelled front and enriched framing, 17th-century, top and other parts modern. Floor-slabs: In chancel—(1) to Thomas, son of Thomas Clement, clerk, 1676; (2) to Thomas Clement, 1675, with enrichments; (3) enriched slab to Thomas (?) Clement, pastor, late 17th-century. Seating: In nave—two coffin-stools, with turned legs, 17th-century.

Secular

(2) Cottage, 50 yards N. of the church, is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roof is thatched. It was built in the 17th century and contains a reset door-head with the date 1661. There are also some original doors with ornamental strap-hinges.

(3) Cottage, two tenements, 260 yards W. of the church, is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble with a facing of coursed flint and clunch; the roof is thatched. It was built in the 17th century and retains some original stone-mullioned windows and a fireplace with moulded jambs and four-centred head. The barn adjoining the cottage on the W. is of the same period.

(4) Cottage, on the E. side of the road 120 yards N. of (3), is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roof is thatched. It was built in the 17th century and retains some original stone-mullioned windows.

Earthworks

(5) Barrows, on North Hill nearly 1½ m. W.N.W. of the church, stand about 120 yards apart. The northern is about 33 ft. in diameter and 2½ ft. high; the southern is about 60 ft. in diameter and 3 ft. high. Both are much denuded, but probably they were bowl barrows.

(6) Lynchets, 550 yards W.N.W. of the church, consist of eleven well-preserved terraces on a S. slope and extending for about 200 yards. The widths vary from 9 to 35 yards. There is a further single terrace about 200 yards to the W. and about 50 yards wide.