Church of St Candida and Holy Cross, Whitchurch Canonicorum

The church lies on the northern edge of Whitchurch Canonicorum, a small village in the Marshwood Vale in west Dorset. Alfred the Great founded a church on the site in the 9th century named Hwitan Cyrican ("White Church" or "Whitchurch") and bequeathed it to his youngest son Æthelweard.|group=Note}} However, nothing significant remains of that structure. In the 11th century William the Conqueror gave ownership of the church to the monks of St Wandrille's monastery in Normandy, France. They began a major reconstruction and expansion of the building in the 12th century. In 1190 the monks sold or gave the church and benefice to the Bishop of Salisbury and in the early 13th century it was handed…

The church is a typical cruciform shape and is a mixture of architectural styles. It is the most complete example of Early English architecture in Dorset: the heart of the church—the nave and transepts—were built in this style. It also incorporates some Norman features and significant Perpendicular additions. It was constructed in Lias ashlar stone with slate roofs and has a nave with clerestory, north and south aisles, north and south transepts, a west tower, chancel, south porch and south vestry. The tower's west doorway has spandrels containing plant-motifs below a quatrefoil. Above the doorway sits a transomed window flanked by empty canopied statue niches.{{refn|The fate of the statues…