Isle of Purbeck

Historic churches in the Isle of Purbeck

The Isle of Purbeck hosts a diverse collection of religious sites, from the remote, square-shaped Norman chapel of St Aldhelm to the rare Anglo-Saxon architecture of St Martin on the Walls. In Wareham, Lady St Mary preserves 8th-century inscribed stones and a medieval lead font. The list also includes the 'Cathedral of the Purbecks' at Kingston and the church at Tyneham, which now serves as a museum for the abandoned village, illustrating centuries of local history.

Huligan0 / CC BY-SA 3.0

St. Aldhelm's Chapel

St Aldhelm's Chapel is a Norman chapel on St Aldhelm's Head in the parish of Worth Matravers, Swanage, Dorset.

Jan Jakeš / CC-BY-SA

St Mary's Church

13th-century church located in the abandoned village of Tyneham. Now serving as a museum, it features displays on the village's history and its 1943 evacuation by Allied forces.

Ronald Searle / CC BY-SA 2.0

St Martin on the Walls

St Martin's Church, Wareham, sometimes St Martin's-on-the-walls, is an Anglo-Saxon church in the town of Wareham in Dorset, England.

JimChampion / CC BY-SA 3.0

St James

The Church of St James is the parish church for the village of Kingston, located on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset.

Lady St Mary

A large Wareham church with Saxon origins, containing five 8th-century stones with Brittonic inscriptions. It also features a rare 12th-century hexagonal lead font, one of only thirty in England.

St Edward the Martyr

A 13th-century church in Corfe Castle village dedicated to the teenage King Edward, who was murdered nearby in 978 AD. The building features a 15th-century tower and Victorian restorations.