Home

 

 

 

 

HILFIELD

 

 

ST NICHOLAS

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1848, at the request of the parishioners, Hilfield was separated from Sydling, and after restoration the Church was reconsecrated and permission given for burials to take place in Hilfield churchyard.

The Church was again extensively restored in the 1950's, when the benches were remade retaining the carved ends. These are traditionally supposed to have come from Cerne Abbey at the dissolution of the monasteries, but expert opinion is now divided as to their dates. Nineteenth century copies can be seen in Trent and Glanvilles Wootton Churches, and two additional genuine ones, marked "EX ECCL SANCT NICCOLAS HILLFIELD COMPT DORSET" are made into the sides of a Bishop's Chair in Bradpole Church. One pew, depicting St Andrew, has been lent to Leigh St Andrew's Church. The West window is early 14c, and the pews in the nave are 17th century; although the one by the pulpit was altered in 1848. The panelling behind the altar and by the West door is 16th or 17th century. The remains of the Lord's Prayer, dated to the 17th century, was found in 1961. The bell is dated 1726, and the registers date from 1565. Outside at the ends of the mouldings over the East window are two stone heads similar to carvings at Sherborne Abbey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yetminster

 

 

St Andrew

 

Architectural Description

 

The remains of the Saxon preaching cross with carving on two sides

St. Andrews presides genially over the handsome stone houses of Yetminster, a high proportion of which date from the seventeenth century, when the village achieved an unusual prosperity. The church, of course, is much older: it has Saxon origins, and retains the carved shaft of a preaching cross of that period. What stands, however, belongs largely to the third quarter of the fifteenth century, except for the low and simple chancel, of about 1300, with its characteristic trio of lancet windows overlooking the street.

The fifteenth century work – nave, aisles, porch and tower – has greater pretensions, and is a good example of a uniform, aesthetically ambitious scheme undertaken on a relatively small scale and with limited means. The exterior, whose best face is to the south, is given grandeur by the row of large battlements that partly conceals the roof, by the sturdy elegance of the tower, and by the vigorous tracery patterns in the broad windows (recalling those of Sherborne Abbey). Eleven of the twelve original consecration crosses survive. The interior of the nave is appealingly spacious and light, thanks to its very broad plan, which (with its aisles) is nearly square, and to the tall wide arches that flank the main vessel. The lack of upper windows makes this, like St. John’s, Yeovil, a ‘hall-church’, echoing the great halls of castles and the open-plan ‘preaching churches’ of the Franciscans and Dominicans. Large parts of the original oak roofs remain (including the central one, a graceful semi-circular ‘barrel’ roof), as do some of the original benches. 

From the artistic point of view the most precious feature of the church is the amount of original colour that survives on walls, roofs and even benches. The survival of such a comprehensive unified scheme is rare. Though the traces of it are often faint, much decayed, or destroyed, what is left hints at an interior once ablaze with bright red, green, blue, white, gold and black. These colours were gathered in vigorous chevron or spiral patterns, or employed to pick out the foliate and heraldic decorations of the roofs, or to illuminate the sacred monogram IHS, the first three letters in Greek of the name of Jesus.

The fine 15th c roof with the sunburst of Edward IV and the Crowned Sacred Monogram - ihc - meaning Jesus

as well as mediaeval painted patterns of barber's poleing, chevrons etc.

Among the original carved capitals is one illustrating the favourite medieval joke of the geese (the hitherto gullible people) hanging the fox (the rapacious and mendacious friar).

One of the carved capitals in the nave

A more genteel but equally entertaining detail is the little horse on a boss in the roof, the ‘rebus’, or punning emblem, of the local magnate, Sir John Horsey of nearby Clifton Maubank, who may well have paid for the nave and tower.

The intervening centuries have seen the adornment of the church with attractive funerary monuments, notably the great early sixteenth century Horsey brass and the pleasantly naïve Minterne wall monument of more than a century later. Successive restorations have succeeded for the most part in consolidating rather than replacing the medieval fabric. The most recent of these was completed in 2000; it attended to traditional re-leading of the roofs, modern electric wiring and lighting and necessary repairs to the external stonework.

During the last few months of 2006 a major reordering of the Chancel took place.  The space gained for further flexibility for worship has been welcomed by many people.

More work took place in 2008 to make the Tower watertight. The opportunity was taken to regild the weathercock.

The handsome weathercock (1752)

 Electrical work of rewiring and new heating and lighting took place in 2017 and much work was done on the tower in 2020 and 2021.

 

The weathercock has been regilded again by Claire Thomas and is ready to go back to the tower. Easter 2021.

   

 

 

 

 

 

YETMINSTER VILLAGE

 

http://www.yetminsterparishes.gov.uk/

 

 

FRIENDS OF YETMINSTER STATION:

 

An initiative to "adopt" the local railway station and build community involvement in a local and valuable asset.

 

For more information please email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

 

The Parish of St Andrew’s Yetminster in the Diocese of Salisbury is large and its origins, it seems, go back at least to Saxon times.

Nowadays the village is perhaps best known for its Fair held each year on the 2^nd Saturday in July  when the streets are thronged with visitors who wait to hear the clock ring out the National Anthem (on only 5 notes instead of 7!) and the church itself is filled with flowers and exhibitions. The village lies on the “Macmillan Way”, a long distance walking route, and is well served by the Heart of Wessex Railway.

Well known too for its Irish Dancers and for its association with the Yetties (the Folk Group), the village has a population of about 1450. There are many amenities: St Andrew’s Church, St Andrew’s Church of England School, the Methodist Chapel, the White Hart Pub, a Post Office and Spar Shop, Railway Station and buses, a flourishing Health Centre; a vet; the Montessori Nursery and other Toddler and Playgroups;  the Old School Gallery, The Ark - selling antiques etc. There is a small industrial complex with joinery, motoring accessories, car sales, gear-box engineering and car repairs. A sports field with a playground and a Scout Hut  has a  tennis court. There are allotments too. The refurbished Jubilee Hall next to the church, has large and small halls, kitchen, Rector’s office and up-to-date facilities. Many activities take place here.

Today “as you walk round the village you will see many old and beautiful houses…mainly of uniform design and not dominated by one large manor house as in many villages” (ref “A Walk Round Yetminster” see Yetminster Publications). But Yetminster is not just old houses. Round the heart of the village are several thriving estates built in the latter half of the 20^th century and within the heart of the village some sensitive in-filling has been allowed.

The name comes from “Eata Minster”. A Minster was a church used as a base by priests from which they could evangelise the surrounding area. “Eata” could be the name of the original landowner but it also means “gate” and is the name of a Northumbrian saint too, so the name remains somewhat obscure.

From at least the time of Domesday, Yetminster was owned by the Bishop of Salisbury. Wishing to make provision for some of the Prebends (or Canons) of the Cathedral in Salisbury, he divided the property into 4 manors, one of which he kept for himself, not to live in but to enjoy the income derived from the Manor. In about 1560 (after the Reformation) Queen Elizabeth I seized this part from the Bishop and bestowed it on her favourite, Sir Walter Raleigh, and thus it eventually became part of the Digby Estate in Sherborne.

Yetminster never had a Lay “Lord of the Manor” or an important family or “big” house as so many other villages had. Instead, the Prebendal system, roughly explained in the preceding paragraph, brought a great measure of independence and stability to the village. (ref The Prebends p. 1 and 25 ff. see Yetminster Publications)

By the 18th c. Yetminster had its own Grammar School. The village flourished and had almost the appearance of a small town. During the 19^th c. the railway came and Yetminster’s trades and farming survived and thrived. (ref “Badges and Beans” see Yetminster Publications). The Methodist Chapel was built in 1859 and the little church school which had opened in Church Street became part of the nationwide network of elementary schools and is now St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School.

Some famous people had connections with Yetminster: Sir Robert Boyle of Boyles Law, and Benjamin Jesty, who was the first vaccinator, are just two of them.

To find out about publications go to Yetminster Publications

For more information try the following:

To find out more about the School visit their website www.standrewsyetminster.org.uk

To find out more about the Yetminster Health Centre, visit their website www.yetminsterhc.com

To find out more about the Yetties, visit their website www.theyetties.co.uk

To find out more about accommodation and tourist information, visit www.heartofwessex.org.uk

To find out more about walking the Macmillan Way, visit the website http://www.macmillanway.org/

and https://www.walkandcycle.co.uk/trail?trailcode=DORSTR0031

For details of the Jubilee Hall, and bookings, contact the Three Valleys Office - see Contact Us page.

or email:      This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.