Old Church of St. Mary the Virgin, West Dean

In 1868 the old parish church of St Mary was demolished, with the exception of the Borbach Chantry, which was restored as a mortuary chapel. In 1837 the church was visited by Sir Richard Colt-Hoare. Unfortunately he dismissed the building in one sentence. ‘The church is a poor building with a wooden turret. It is, however, rich in monuments and inscriptions, especially in those of the Evelyn and Pierrepont families’. He then proceeded to record these monuments in detail. There were four substantial monuments, seven flat stones in the chancel and seven flat stones in the nave – a large number for a small church. The nave measured 37 feet 5 inches long and 35 feet wide; the chancel 34 feet 6inches long and 12 feet 9 inches wide. The ground plan drawn by Colt-Hoare shows the location of the four largest monuments to the Evelyn, Tirell and Pierrepont families.

In 1885 the Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine published an article on the history of West Dean by the Rev. George Master. He felt that Colt-Hoare’s dismissive remark was unfair, and he proceeded to describe the church in detail. The ground-plan consisted of a chancel, nave, south chantry and south porch. The wooden turret was supported by timber beams at the west end of the nave. The walls were loosely constructed of rubble made of chalk, flint and sandstone.

The chancel dated from the Early English period, having a total of seven single lancet windows. The three light east window was a slightly later date (Decorated), as was a two light window in the south wall which was later removed to the restored chantry. The sanctuary had an encaustic pavement. Among the patterns on its tiles were an archer on horseback and two birds with twisted necks forming the letter M, the monogram of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The nave was re-built later than the chancel, as it has no Early English features. At some point in the early 19th century the walls began to lean outwards and had to be strengthened on the north and west sides by stone buttresses. Unfortunately a large crack appeared at the north-west corner, resulting in the church being declared unsafe. The font was moved to the new church and a few of the plain oak benches were transferred to the chantry. The pulpit, gallery and other fittings were not thought to be worth saving.

The south (Borbach) chantry was founded in 1333 by Robert de Borbach to provide for a priest to pray for the souls of King Edward I and various other distinguished people as well as for his own. His tomb is beneath a recess in the south wall but does not have an effigy or an inscription. The chapel was of a better construction than the rest of the church, so it was decided that it would be preserved, both as a chapel for funeral services and as a safe place for all the monuments, which could not be easily moved elsewhere. In 1868 Dr. W.J. Evelyn paid for the restoration of the chapel, including the building of a new porch and the removal of the plaster ceiling that concealed the roof timbers. The east end of the chantry is protected by 17th century wrought iron railings. Beyond them are several of the monuments for which the chantry is well known. The largest commemorates Robert Pierrepont who died in 1669. The figure is life-size, supported by an angel, with a long inscription.

The churchyard contains two fine old yew trees, the larger of which measured 30 feet in circumference. In 1885 it was estimated that the tree dated from the 11th century.

Further renovations took place in 1927, again paid for by the Evelyn family. In 1973 the responsibility for the care of this church was placed in the hands of the Redundant Churches Fund, now the Churches Conservation Trust.

Additional sites of local interest for this church*

Churches Conservation Trust  (added 2022)

*Report a broken link