St. Nicholas, Durweston, Dorset

Description

The parish church of St. Nicholas is an edifice of flint and stone in the Transition style, consisting of chancel, nave of five bays, south aisle and south porch, with a square western embattled tower with pinnacles containing 5 bells, one of which was added in 1887, in commemoration of the Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and a clock, erected in 1897, at a cost of £60, to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee: a stone carving to St. Eloi, the patron saint of blacksmiths, was discovered when the old church was pulled down, embedded in the wall hehind the altar, and is now placed over the west porch inside the church entrance; the figures had been mutilated, probably by Cromwell's commissioners : there are 300 sittings.

Church Records

The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1730. The original register books are now deposited with the Dorset Archives Service, but have been digitised by Ancestry.co.uk and made available on their site (subscription required).