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This must
be almost unique in Dorset because the church, which is surrounded by
a hedge, is in the corner of a field with no road access to it.
Like
so many English villages, the origins of Frome St Quintin are lost in
the mists of time. Hutchins records "on a hill in the parish, the
ground marks an old encampment".
Certainly,
the village and the surrounding land formed part of a royal estate in
Norman times, being held by Queen Mathilda, wife of William the Conqueror.
In the Doomsday Book it appears as Litelfrome but by the end of the twelfth
century it was held by Herbert de St. Quintin, one of King Richard the
Lionheart's powerful barons, from whom its present name derives. The mediaeval
patrons were the Abbots of Tewksbury and the list of incumbents begins
in 1132. Tradition has it that the original village surrounded this delightful
little building,
but was depopulated as a result of the Black Death, leaving the church
isolated.
.The
doorway which leads to the vestry beneath the tower is partly twelfth
century, whilst the nave and chancel are C13. The surprisingly short tower
was added in the fourteenth century and the chancel arch rebuilt about
1400. The south main entrance porch is C15. The various windows reflect
these periods. The octagonal font with a cylindrical stem and chamfered
base is C12. The church was restored in 1881, with the result that many
of its features are late Victorian. Note the splendid oil lamps. The mediaeval
altar is of Purbeck marble, repolished and with five more recent crosses,
whilst the window above it, depicting the Nativity , is Victorian, as
is the carving of the Last Supper.
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