Toller Porcorum: St Andrew, Toller Porcorum

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The Parish church is in the centre of the village. The tower dates from around 1300, and there are four gargoyles just below the battlements, whose purpose was to empty water away from the roof - and also to frighten evil spirits. Inside the porch are rough stone walls, the old plaster having been stripped away. On the right of the porch is a Victorian iron stair to the ringing gallery while just beyond the foot of the stair is a wooden door which opens on to a spiral stone stair up to the bell chamber at the top of the tower.

There are six bells in the top of the tower. The tenor bell is the oldest dating from the 16th century, and decorated with ornamental alphabet letters round it. The next three bells are dated 1767, 1779 and 1669, with the first of these being inscribed Richard Keech - the family of Keech owned the tannery in Toller and made gloves and boots. By the 1930s the bells would not ring and in 1937 they were taken out and rehung. The new bell frame, however, was big enough for six bells rather than four. At the end of the Second World War the parish priest, Parson White as everyone knew him, suggested that two new bells should be added to the ring, as a thanksgiving for the fact that Toller had lost no men in the war, but he died shortly after and the idea seemed lost. Over 40 years later Peter Billen, who first rang the church bells as a boy in 1942 to celebrate the Allied victory at El Alamein, became Churchwarden and determined finally to fulfil Parson White's wish. It took him two years to raise the £10,000 necessary, but he succeeded, and in 1990 two new bells, one inscribed `Peace' and the other `Thanksgiving for Mercy' were hung in the tower.
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David Wallbridge
Tel: (01300) 320046
Please try this this contact (courtesy of Crockfords Clerical Directory).
  • Regular Services
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Sunday

Eucharist
Every second and fourth Sunday at 11:00 AM for 1 hour
Evensong
Every first and third Sunday at 6:30 PM for 1 hour
Sunday School Youth Group Live Music / Concerts Grade 2* Listed Building Conservation Area Tower Stained glass Organ
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The Revd David Frederick Beresford BALDWIN
The Rectory
3 Clay Lane
Beaminster
(01308) 862150
A Church Near You ID: 9437
Archdeaconry: SHERBORNE (341)
Deanery: LYME BAY (34103)
Benefice: Beaminster Area (34/016CF)
Parish Legal Name: Toller Porcorum (340030 34/30)
CofE Church Info: (634030 34/30)
Short URL: acny.co.uk/9437/
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Toller Porcorum: St Andrew Toller Porcorum, Dorset, DT2 0DT
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