Wootton, North

97 WOOTTON, NORTH (E.b.)

(O.S. 6 in. XII, N.W.)

North Wootton is a small parish 1½ m. S.E. of Sherborne.

Ecclesiastical

(1) Parish Church Of St. Mary Magdalene stands 440 yards N.N.W. of the modern church. The walls are of local rubble with freestone dressings and the roof is covered with stone slates. The late 14th or early 15th-century West Tower is the only surviving part of the old church; the nave and chancel were demolished about 1883 when the modern church was built.

Architectural Description—The West Tower (5½ ft. by 7¾ ft.) is of late 14th or early 15th-century date and of three storeys with a low pyramidal roof and diagonal W. buttresses. The pointed tower-arch has chamfered reveals and is now blocked; set in the blocking is a doorway with a modern head and a triangular rear-arch. The W. window is of one pointed light. The second stage has a small loop in the S. wall. The bell-chamber has a two-light window in the E. and W. walls, the former now blocked. Adjoining the E. face of the tower are the butt-ends of the destroyed nave which was 14¾ ft. wide. The tower is heavily ivy-grown and in a ruinous condition.

The Modern Church incorporates the following architectural features. In the S. wall of the chancel is a 15th-century window of one trefoiled light with a label. In the N. wall of the vestry is an early 16th-century window of two four-centred lights with foliated spandrels and moulded reveals. The nave has, in the S. wall, two partly restored late 14th or early 15th-century windows of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head; the S. doorway has a two-centred head of the same period. The roofs of the chancel and nave have 15th-century wall-plates.

Fittings—In modern church. Bells: two; the larger by John Barber of Salisbury, uninscribed, c. 1400, not hung; sanctus, mediæval and inscribed "Xpc. Maria Johes". Bell-frame (in old church), 17th-century. Bracket: Over S. doorway—moulded semi-octagonal bracket, 15th-century. Communion Table: with turned legs and enriched top-rail, 17th-century. Font: octagonal bowl with moulded under edge, octagonal stem and moulded base, 15th-century. Piscina: In vestry—moulded bracket with octagonal drain and carved boss in middle, 15th-century. Plate: includes a cup and cover-paten (kept at Folke), the former with a band of engraved ornament and the latter with the date 1582.

Secular

(2) Cottage, two tenements, 50 yards S.E. of the modern church, is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are thatched. It was built in the 17th century but the S. tenement may be later.

(3) Cottage, 20 yards S. of (2), is of two storeys; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are thatched. It was built c. 1700.

(4) Cottage, on the S. side of the road 200 yards W. of the church, has rubble walls and thatched roofs. It was built in the 17th century. Inside there is exposed timber-framing with stop-chamfered beams.

(5) Cottage, 200 yards N.W. of the church, is built of similar materials to (4) and is of 17th-century date. It has a central chimney.