Lady St. Mary Church, Wareham

St Aldhelm, who was Bishop of Sherborne around 705, founded a church at Wareham which is probably the church of Lady St. Mary. A nunnery may have been associated with it, but this was destroyed by a Danish raid in 876, before being rebuilt by the daughter of Alfred the Great around 900. The church may also be where Beorhtric, King of Wessex, was buried in 802, and where the body of King Edward the Martyr was brought after he had been murdered at Corfe Castle in 978.

On 7 May 1952 the church was officially designated as a Grade I listed building. The church is built of Purbeck limestone and has slate and tile roofs. It has a long chancel and a four-bay nave with two aisles. The south chapel is at a lower level than the rest of the building and at one time had a treasury above. The robust tower is at the west end of the church and is built in four stages, with diagonal buttressing to the lower three. There is a large transomed window at the west end and another at the east end that was installed by Clayton & Bell between 1886 and 1890. The church was founded in the 8th century, with the south chapel dating to the 12th century. Other parts of the building…