St. Aldhelm's Chapel, St. Aldhelm's Head
| St Aldhelm's Chapel | |
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St Aldhelm's Chapel (2005)
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 St Aldhelm's Chapel
Location in Dorset
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| 50°34′47″N 2°03′24″W / 50.5797°N 2.0568°WCoordinates: 50°34′47″N 2°03′24″W / 50.5797°N 2.0568°W | |
| Location | St Aldhelm's Head, Dorset |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Previous denomination | Roman Catholic |
| History | |
| Founded | 13th century |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Grade I Listed building |
| Designated | 18 March 1955 |
| Style | Norman |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Worth Matravers |
| Diocese | Diocese of Salisbury |
| Province | Canterbury |
St Aldhelm's Chapel is a Norman chapel on St Aldhelm's Head in the parish of Worth Matravers, Swanage, Dorset. It is a Grade I listed building.
The square stone chapel stands within a low circular earthwork, which may be the remains of a pre-Conquest Christian enclosure. The building has several architectural features which are unusual for a chapel; the square shape, the orientation of the corners of the building towards the cardinal points, and the division and restriction of the interior space by a large central column. The lack of evidence for an altar or a piscina suggests that the building may not have been built as a chapel. It may have originally been built as a watchtower for Corfe Castle, covering the sea approaches to the south.
Its identification as a purpose-built chapel rests on records of payments to a chaplain in the reign of King Henry III (1261–1272). The chapel appears to have gone out of use some time before 1625, and was in a ruinous condition by the end of the 18th century. Repairs were carried out by local landowners during the 19th century, and the chapel was reopened for church services in 1874.
The interior of the chapel is approximately 25 feet (7.7. metres) square. In the centre is a square pier supporting four square rib vaults, with the heavy ribs leading to transverse arches, all stop-chamfered. In the north-west side is a Norman round-arched doorway. A small window is contemporary with the doorway.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries regular weekly services were held, attended by coastguards and their families who lived in nearby cottages. The neighbouring Renscombe Farm was used for radar research during the Second World War, and the chapel was used infrequently. Repaired again in the 1960s, the site of the chapel was declared a Scheduled Monument in 2000. At present (2009) services are held on Sundays in July and August.
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