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There has been a church in Brighstone for over 800 years. It has
stood as a testimony to the faith of many generations of Christians
in our parish, with a long and distinguished history, being known
as the parish of three bishops:
Thomas Ken,
saintly hymn writer
Samuel Wilberforce,
son of the great anti-slave campaigner
George Moberly,
formerly headmaster of Winchester College.
The grey walls of the Church are of Island stone,
much weathered, and supported by strong buttresses. The body of
the building has nearly equal twin gables, and the tower is square
and low, being surmounted by a short spire and weathercock. The
main entrance is through a porch set in the south wall and leading
from the churchyard. It is covered by heavy Dorset stone tiles of
a type which it is believed at one time covered the whole roof of
the Church, until their weight was found to be too great for it.
The porch is old and weathered, and above it is seen,
outside, a sundial placed there in 1721. The figures and words on
it can now scarcely be seen, the soft stone being worn by wind and
weather. The inner door of the porch into the Church was made in
the 15th century and above it is the site of a figure, possibly
of the Virgin, with the remains of a canopy and the chisel-marks
of its removal. The porch was added a little later than this south
door.
Within the Church are three aisles, extending
from west to east. The first reached on entering is the south aisle,
comprising the Limerstone and Wayte's Court Chapels, the latter
set along the side of the chancel. The central, main, aisle extends
through the nave from the tower at the west to the chancel and Sanctuary.
A third, the narrow northern aisle, is on the far side of the nave.
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