"If there is an architectural monument to the devotion of English parishioners around the Reformation, this is it."(Grade I listed in 1956, including a Grade I listed length of 15th century wall in the churchyard, and the Grade II listed churchyard cross)
(2003 Conservation Plan)
This is not, however, the first Abbotsbury church: whatever was built here before the arrival of the Abbey in the 11th century lies beneath the site of the Abbey's high altar, somewhere in today's churchyard or perhaps in the grounds of Abbots Walk.
The present church began as a small building set up by the monks for the people of the village in the 14th century ~ only the north wall remains. Then the tower was added, and a century later the nave was lengthened. Just before the Dissolution in 1539, the nave was widened and arcaded aisles inserted into the enlarged building, making the whole interior quite lopsided in relation to the outside. The plan on the right illustrates how the church has grown over the centuries.
In the 17th century, a small door leading to the Strangways' house was cut in the south wall, and in the 18th century the gilded reredos was placed behind the altar ~ Susanna Strangways Horner had toured Europe in the 1730's, and greatly admired the Roman Catholic churches of Holland: perhaps that was where she found the inspiration for the Corinthian-style creation, which was put up in 1751 once one John Ford was paid £1 2s 6d for taking down the much older rood screen.
Mrs Strangways Horner was a generous benefactor ~ the church plate (left) was made by the silversmith Paul Lamerie, who fashioned plate at Mrs Strangways Horner's expenses for several churches on the family's estates. One of Lamerie's bills, in 1748, came to over £130, perhaps around £3000 today, though Lamerie's work will fetch much more on the open market.
After the fashionable interventions in the 18th century (the brass candelabrum dates from that era), there were two 19th century restorations, and only minor cosmetic alterations in the 20th century.
The engraving here (right) is a mystery: it is undated, presumably photocopied from a book, and mid-Victorian in its style. Enough of the church can be recognised to be sure that it is Abbotsbury's church, but it shows an organ above the Regency gallery ~ the present one was installed in its present location in 1885 ~ and places the pulpit far nearer the north door than it now stands. There is no sign of the font, which at that time would have been under the gallery. The box pews shown in the picture were removed in the late 19th century restoration, which would put this picture back before 1885.
The 2003 Conservation Plan makes the interesting point that the indifferent workmanship of the various additions over the centuries suggests that local parishioners would have been doing the work, thus fortunately allowing the church to escape the clutches of professional Victorian restorers.
Other features of the church include the 12th century effigy of an Abbotsbury abbot in the porch, and bullet-holes in the pulpit, evidence of the fierce siege of the Strangways house during the Civil War.
Behind the gallery are six bells, dating from between 1636 and 1773 ~ they are still rung regularly for services and special occasions.
The church also holds 60 kneelers, stitched by villagers from the designs of the banners that were hung for the Millennium in St Catherine's Chapel: the project began in May 2000 before the banners came down, involved several people who had asked to have their designs included, and was completed in time for a dedication service in December of the same year. Between the banners and the kneelers, some 200 people played a part in the two projects, nearly two-thirds of the village.
In 2005, a similar community project saw the creation of a dramatic embroidered cover ~ 108 different squares, each one designed by the person who stitched it ~ for the Bechstein grand piano which is on permanent loan to the church and is frequently used for recitals and accompanying the local Bridge House Singers.