28 September 2008 - Stockwood

A new destination for me on my Sunday cycle rides. 
My reason for visiting was to photograph the little church.
Stockwood is a tiny hamlet at the foot of the chalk downs in a superbly woody area with many hedgerow oaks between Chetnole and Melbury Osmond.
It has the smallest church in Dorset and the second smallest in England, just 29ft 3in by 12ft 9in and dedicated to the Saxon saint Edwold, the hermit brother of the East Anglian King, who died in 971 and was buried at nearby Cerne Abbas. The present building mainly dates from the 15th century with the elaborate porch and odd little bell cote added in 1636.

To get to the church you have to follow the lane that leads to Church Farm.
This is the church from the approach path.

A closer look at the small church.

The stone above the doorway dated 1636. The date that the porch was added.

Seating for about 20 people maximum.

The font.