St George's Dorchester by jaffna1964
Open full image in new tab Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.
Description
The church stands high on a hill top, the tower is 15th century and is embattled with pinnacles. This church has a great treasure, a Roman stone, a block of Purbeck marble, engraved and the earliest inscription known in the county. A tribute to a Roman husband and father exiled in Britain from his family and reads:-
'To Gaius Aristobulus, a Roman Citizen, aged 50. Rufinus and Marina and Avita his children. Erected by Romana his wife.' In the valley of the river Frome below are the graves of German soldiers who were held prisoner here during the Great War.
The entrance hall (Narthex or some denominations refer to it as the vestibule) has a Tympanum stone situated above the door leading into the church. It is said to be of great antiquity and may have been given to the church by William Belet who was rewarded with the 'Manor of Fordington' by William the Conqueror. It is recorded that St George came to the assistance of crusaders on both the first and the third crusades.
If Belet went on the first crusade then it seems he was being hard pressed by Saracens at the battle of Dorylatum 1097, when St George came to his aid. He and his squire have fallen on their knees in thankfulness. There are some small differences in the armour of the two groups.
Just inside the main entrance is a small font like object. The author Thomas Hardy lived within this parish and was a member of the restoration committee of the time. He visited the church many times to speculate on this object, which is too small to be a font and also too large to be a holy water stoup. Both it's date and it's use are uncertain.
Comments (6)
Alz2008
Wonderful structure..
lyron
Great!!
durleybeachbum
Looks as though it might be worth a few 'close-ups'!
MrsRatbag
Beautiful!
bmac62
Love the details of the history of this place. Rich indeed... And so is the visual image presented here. Bill
katy555
Beautiful picture and light, nice work... Happy New Year to you…