Welcome !
For Services, click here
Okeford Fitzpaine is a village in the heart of the Blackmore Vale in North Dorset.
This WebSite is about
the Parish Church of St. Andrew;
for information or news about the village,
and what's going on, click here. /
To see where we are, click the Map icon top right /
Or for a map of Dorset Parishes, click >here<
The Rev'd Andrew Gubbins
has been appointed as half-time
Priest-in-Charge
of the Okeford Benefice.His Licensing by the Bishop of Sherborne
and the Installation
by the Archdeacon of Sherborne
will be held on
Thursday 29 June 2023 at 7pm
in the Parish Church of the Holy Rood, Shillingstone
to which everyone is warmly invited.The service will be followed by Refreshments
in the Shillingstone Church Centre.
Chris and Sue Jay
Churchwardens
St Andrew's Church Okeford Fitzpaine
860 153
07884 256 447 (Sue)
Help wanted
St Andrew's Church
needs a few more volunteers
to help keep the Churchyard
looking tidy.The church owns
a good lawnmower and strimmer
to do the job,so if you have an hour or two to spare, even if it's just occasionally,
please contact us
or call 860 153
for further details.Thank you
Remembrance Day, 2018
the centenary of the WW1 Armistice.
Each cross bore a name from our Memorial.
At the going down of the Sun, and in the morning,
we will remember them.
and
Mrs Graham was Head techer of our Village School for many years.
Her husband, Arthur Ernest Graham,
although not killed in the First War,
was just as much a "casualty" - perhaps more so,
as he died in 1929,
from the after effects of being gassed during the war.
A bullet is instantaneous.
He and his family suffered for over eleven years.
And, generally speaking,
there are at least as many wounded as there are killed.
Our Parish Magazine is The Fippenny News
it comes out at the beginning of each month,
and is available in print or online.
If you don't already receive a copy, we can arrange delivery
just click here to drop us a line
Or ask Barbara:- tel 861 524
30p a copy (collect from the Church),
or £3 a year, delivered to your door.
St. Andrew's Church
Holy Communion Benefice Service
at 10:00 one Sunday a month,
everyone is welcome.
The Church is also open every day for private prayer - or simply somewhere to go to meditate alone, away from the cares of the world.
Click here for full details of services.
HISTORY
In Brief:-
At the foot of the buttresses to the tower there are hints of the church’s Saxon origins, when the village, like Fiddleford and Sturminster Newton was owned by Glastonbury Abbey, but held by ‘knights’ on behalf of the Church, as recorded in the 11th century Domesday Book. The ‘new’ church was completed by about 1300, almost certainly by one of four generations of Robert Fitzpaines, the first of whom, according to the Revd. Hutchins in his 18th century History of Dorset, was the grandson of Milo, Earl of Gloucester, probably illegitimately, as the prefix ‘Fitz’ implies.
The Fitzpaine family lived in the village for about 150 years from 1246 to about 1400. They were the last resident Lords of the Manor and appear to have been kindly benefactors to the village, having obtained a licence to hold an annual Whitsun Fair that is still a feature of village life.
The church was remodelled in the 18th and 19th centuries. The font dates from 1866 with possible components of an earlier font visible in the walls surrounding the churchyard to the left of the lych gate. The Early Perpendicular tower of the mediaeval church remains, as well as interior and exterior carvings, pillar bases in the south transept, the pulpit, part of the chancel arch, possibly some flagstones and some mediaeval glass in one of the north transept windows.
The colourful Arts and Crafts stained glass windows were created in memory of former Rectors and the wealthy Phillips family, who owned Hill View Dairies and provided employment for many in the village.
More details are here or there's a splendid little booklet on the history of the Church, produced by Jane -
Price £1, profit goes to Church funds.
JKTapp AT talktalk DOT net
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