Churches

St Mary’s Church, Cerne Abbas

This 13th Century church sits in the heart of the village. It was established by the Cerne Abbey for the local parishioners and medieval paintings of Biblical scenes have recently been revealed in the chancel and conserved. For a fuller history of St Mary’s why not look at the Cerne History Society website? Recently the church has also been used for community events such as exhibitions, the music festival and as a general meeting place. The lovely garden to the north of the church is maintained by the Squibblers volunteers.

A charity – The Friends of Saint Mary’s Church, Cerne Abbas – has been set up drawing on the wider community to support the Church if faced with significant expenses associated with the building.

Holy Trinity, Godmanstone

The Parish Church of Holy Trinity stands on the east side of the parish and has been a place of worship for at least eight centuries. The walls are of local flint and stone rubble with bands of flint and stone facing and freestone dressings; the roofs are covered with stone slates, slates and lead.

The chancel-arch, originally 12th century but rebuilt in the 16th or 17th century is unusual in that it has four shafts separated by ridges, in places like spurs, with scalloped capitals and moulded bases.

St Andrew’s, Minterne Magna

The small late medieval church of St. Andrew has an early 17th century north chapel and a tower from around 1800, heightened when the whole church was later restored. Inside the church the walls are covered with imposing, ornate monuments to the families who have owned the local lands and Minterne House nearby.