Wardour Castle Roman Catholic Chapel, Tisbury

After the Reformation the Arundell family of Wardour Castle remained Roman Catholic, as did most of their servants and estate workers. This fact, and the protection of the local noble family, encouraged others in the area to do the same. When New Wardour Castle was completed in 1776 it included a very beautiful chapel dedicated to All Saints. It is semi circular at both ends, is 95 feet long, 40 feet wide and 40 feet high, and has very fine fittings, paintings and vestments, many of which have come from continental Europe. All Roman Catholics in the area worshipped at this chapel until the Church of the Sacred Heart was built in Tisbury in 1898, and there is a Roman Catholic cemetery in Wardour Park, about 0.25 miles from the chapel.