General History of the Church of St. Candida and Holy Cross, Whitchurch Canonicorum
Surprisingly large and grand for a village church, St. Candida and Holy Cross is very special. This small country church shares a distinction to which only Westminster Abbey can otherwise lay claim and which made it a major centre of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. Often referred to as 'the Cathedral of the Vale', pilgrims travelled here to visit the relics of the patron saint in the shrine of St. Candida (St. Wite), using the many tracks and paths which all lead to the church and stopping for refreshment at the C14th hostelry, Shave Cross Inn.
Alfred the Great bequeathed Hwitancircian (Whitechurch) to his youngest son, Ethelwald in approximately 881AD. The name 'Whitechurch' may have come from the fact that the church ( as in many Whitechurches throughout England) was built of light coloured stone and not wood or from the fact that it was St Wita's church. This was a period when Alfred commemorated people who had died for the faith at the hands of the Danes. It was a church of some importance at this time.
Later, William the Conqueror appointed his personal chaplain, Guntard, to the benefice. Guntard became a monk at St Wandrille's Abbey in Normandy and, afterwards, Abbot of Jumièges. He attended the Conqueror on his deathbed when Anselm, the Abbot of Le Bec Hellouin was sick and unable to come. William granted, "out of love to Guntard, my chaplain, who has become a monk at St Wandregesil, four churches in England two, Whitechurch and Brideton ( Bridport ) , are in the county of Dorset, the third Sherston. (Wiltshire) and the fourth Towcester ( Northamptonshire" ) Guntard is pictured beside William in the Bayeaux Tapestry and is said to have provided wine for the King's army from his vineyard at Wootton Fitzpaine.
Monks from the Abbey at St Wandrille's came to Whitechnrch" demolished the Saxon building (as was their custom) and began to erect the present building. In 1190, the Abbot of St Wandrille's granted the church and benefice to the Bishop of Sarum, and new builders arrived. I t is probable that the northern arcade had collapsed, owing to the sinking of the piers, which would have been without foundations. The new builders erected the northern arcade, east of the rectangular pier, the north and south transepts and extended the chancel to the present length, rebuilding the chancel arch.
As with changes to the architecture, so there have been changes, to the names given to the patron saint and the church. The Anglo-Saxon word for Wite began to be spelt 'white' which, in medieval times, took the Latin form 'candida'. Wite was the original name; that between 1200 and 1505, the title Candida came into use - sometimes varied with White - and, during the C15th, the dedication Holy Cross was added.
Exterior of the Church
Several red bricks, possibly Roman, may be found between the south porch and the south transept. Incorporated in the southeast face of the nearby buttress is a sundial. In the south wall of the chancel is the priest's doorway which was blocked up in 1848 (when much rebuilding was done in the church) and high up on the eastern gable of the nave is the Sanctus bell turret, one of the few not destroyed by Cromwell's men. At both corners of the east wall of the chancel are examples of keel shaped angle shafts which are not common on exterior walls.
In the outside wall of the church, to the west of the porch is a carved, inverted two handled pitcher or flagon of the form commonly used as a chalice in the 12th /13th centuries. It is thought to be a representation of the Holy Grail.
High up on the walls of the tower are several carved panels. On the south side above the small window is a carving of a ship and an axe and to the right of the window is another, of an axe and an adze. There are similar carvings on the north side of the tower. Their asymmetrical positioning lends weight to the idea that they were part of the plan for the medieval structure but were older stonework, preserved by builders in this way. Could they have been part of the original stonework of the Saxon building and incorporated into the building of the tower in 1400? Were these symbols of the Danish landings in Charmouth in the 9th Century, and the dreadful carnage and plundering of the area? Or were they merely symbolic of the shipbuilding, which took place at Lyme Regis? No one is completely sure.
The Bells and the Clock
During the 17th century five bells were hung in the tower. Three more were added in the 20th century. The bells were cast in pits in the churchyard and bear the following inscriptions:
Dated 1912 HEAR MY VOICE, O GOD AW: GTB: RGS 1912
Dated 1912 MAY ALL IN TRUTH AND HARMONY REJOICE
TO HONOUR CHURCH AND KING WITH HEART AND VOICE
Dated 1904 RING IN THE CHRIST THAT IS TO BE 1904
Dated 1892 PLEBS OMNIS PLOUDIT (sic) UT ME IAM SEPIUS AUDIT recast
Dated 1641 GIVE THANKS TO GOD 1603. RP
Dated 1603 ANNO DOMINI 1603 RP
Dated 1603 ANNO DOMINI 1603 RPRM
Dated 1669 HARK WHEN I CALL COME TO CHURCH ALL ANNO
DOMINI 1669 WLHCCWTP
The clock probably dates from the 17th century as it bears an inscription to the effect that it was repaired in 1725. The copper clock face was erected in 1820. The mechanism was 'electrified' in the 1950s.
The Porch
The porch is from the Perpendicular Period (1380-1525) and was probably built around 1400 when the tower, the battlements on the south wall, the arches into the tower and the transepts and the barrel roofs of the nave and north transept were added.
On the east jamb of the south door are a number of incised crosses. It is probable that these are votive crosses made during pilgrimage rather than consecration crosses. The stone bench to the left of the porch bears grooved marks said to have been used for sharpening arrows, and a fingerprint, impressed into the mortar by the door, is thought to be the signature mark of the builder.
The Nave
When Constantine established the Christian church in 311AD, instead of following the Greco/Roman Temple plan, he adopted the basilica format. (Basilicas were meeting halls, markets and law courts: large oblong buildings with a raised dais at one rounded apse end for the chairman or judge. This was now universally used for the high altar with choir. )
The body of the building, called the nave (ship), had a vaulted ceiling while the side aisles (wings) had a flat ceiling. Large columns, lavishly decorated, usually divided these two spaces.
In this church, the barrel roofs of the nave and the north transept are the original ones put up in 1400. At about the same time, the tower and porch were added and the arches to the transepts were enlarged and rebuilt on the same pattern as that used in the tower. The design of panelling used on these three arches is found only in the West of England. Looking closely at the north wall of the tower there is another blocked up doorway which would have led from the tower staircase to the gallery quire. There is evidence that this gallery was removed by the Victorians when the focus for music was switched to the east end of the church and new wooden pews were installed. Slates replaced the exterior lead roof of the nave in 1887.
Looking down the nave to the west end, note the fine Early English arcading, featuring the unusual foliage-carved capitals. These capitals are deeply cut with carvings based on local flowers and wild plants and the designs are not repeated, which gives an unusually rich effect for a village church. It is possible that these carvings were test pieces from the stonemason quarries at Branscombe, near Beer in Devon.
The clerestory windows were inserted, and the north aisle rebuilt and widened, in 1848.
To the right of the chancel arch (Early English 1190-1310) can be seen a blocked up archway probably the remains of a rood loft added sometime in the fifteenth century.
The carved oak pulpit is mainly Jacobean, with later additions. Similar pulpits can be found in other churches in the Vale: Wootton Fitzpaine, Lyme and Beaminster, for example, presumably made by the same craftsmen. It is also possible that this pulpit was once part of a larger structure.
The most westerly arches of the arcades were built by Henry Pitfield, Mason, in 1738, as recorded on a stone tablet high up between the windows on the north wall. The North Transept Showing Capitals and Four Clerestory Windows
The South Transept and South Arcade
On either side of the nave are the north and south aisles, arcades and transepts. The inner door of the porch, all of the south aisle, the south arcade and the font are from the Norman period (1066-1190). The font, which is cauldron shaped with an intersecting arch decoration, was recovered from a field a mile or more away from the church, in 1848, and replaced on a modern base.
Note the subsidence of the westernmost pier of the central, rounded arch of the south arcade. The pier has sunk below the level of the floor and leans towards the southwest. Compare it with the pillar on the eastern end of this same arch.
The roof was rebuilt in 1849 (at the same time as the chancel roof).
As you walk towards the organ in the south aisle, look to the right and there on the wall are carvings of two Saxon roses incorporated into the south wall (possibly during the rebuilding by the monks of St. Wandrille's in 1190).
On the floor nearby you will find, covered by a rug, a floor stone, with the brass removed, inscribed in Norman French to the memory of Lady Eleanor, wife of Sir Thomas de Luda. Half of this slab is missing and the other half (broken) is to be found in Askerswell church. To Thomas and Eleanor de Luda, the grave slab records the gifts of lands and rents in 1305 in Holwell, now in Dorset but then in Somerset, to the Abbey of Abbotsbury whence this slab probably came. The story of its journey to Askerswell is not known for certain but it could have been brought to that village during the Civil War, when Cromwell's troops besieged Abbotsbury in 1644, inflicting severe damage on the remains of the Abbey; The slab was discovered in a mill dam in Askerswell, in 1924, by the Reverend E Westmacott after the mill pool had been filled in. £2 was paid for the stone to avoid its destruction.
The organ was installed in November 1903. The piano, a Broadwood boudoir grand in a rosewood case, is on extended loan from the Anderson family of Morcombelake. It is used for concerts and recitals in the church.
The vestry was once a chantry chapel, endowed by Henry de Greenford in the 13th Century. Above the vestry door is a painted wooden hatchment hearing the arms of Floyer, a local landowning family in the 17th century, and a verse extolling the virtues of Elizabeth, the second wife of William Floyer.
The church possesses two beautiful chalices - one dated 1570 and the other 1678.
The Chancel and Choir
The chancel arch and the chancel are Early English (1190-1310).
Restorations were undertaken in 1848, including rebuilding the east wall of the chancel, with its three light windows. Nearly all the stone mullions of the windows were replaced. In 1849, the roofs of the chancel and south transept were rebuilt and the linen fold panelling of the choir stalls was introduced, although the cornices and stall ends are 17th century Burgundian work, one pew showing the ragged staves of Burgundy.
It is interesting to observe that the 'new' roof of the chancel is not symmetrical with the roof of the nave. The inclination of the chancel is noticeable from the nave. The fourteen oak shields on the ceiling above the choir stalls depict the signs of Christ's Passion. The details of these carvings have been recorded with fine pencil drawings and explanations, in the pamphlet by Dennis Caddy. Can you find the Green Men? (Look to the bosses in the ceiling.) How fascinating that these traditional pagan carvings were put into the 'new' roof!
The windows on the south wall of the chancel are amongst the oldest in the church, together with the windows above the shrine. Pieces of this original glass were put back into the lead in random order during the Victorian restoration.
The man who inspired his friend, William Shakespeare, to write "The Tempest" lies buried under the floor of the vestry. A modern brass plaque hears his name. Sir George Somers was a man of great energy; He sailed with his contemporary, Sir Walter Raleigh, capturing treasure ships for the Crown, and became Mayor and Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis, where he was born. He and his wife lived at Berne Manor in Whitchurch, which was later destroyed in a fire and subsequently rebuilt as a farmhouse. He was most famous for colonising Virginia, sailing with nine ships loaded with settlers. The fleet scattered and his vessel, 'Sea Venture", was wrecked on a coral island. It was one of the Bermuda Islands, the Bermoothes of Shakespeare's play. Somers took possession and, after a year rebuilding his boats, he eventually landed his settlers in Virginia. He died in 1610 whilst returning to Bermuda with supplies and his heart is buried there but his body was brought home to Whitchurch by his nephew, Matthew. The town of St George's, Bermuda, is now twinned with Lyme Regis and there is an annual service in this church, to commemorate Sir George and attended by dignitaries from Bermuda and Lyme. Details of his life and the twinning of the two towns are recorded in a publication by Lyme historian, Richard Fox.
In the North wall is a fine, highly decorated tomb with recumbent effigy of Sir John Jeffrey of Catherston Manor, who died in 1611. The helmet above is probably of earlier date.
In the same wall is a smaller tomb of John Wadham (1584), who was at one time Captain of Sandsfoot Castle and also Recorder of Lyme Regis. He was related to the founder of Wadham College, Oxford.
North Transept
The north arcade is from the Early English period (1190-1310).
The wall arcading on the east wall suggests that there were at one time two altars standing here. An altar slab, which some years ago was found upside down near this place, has been re-installed. It is at this altar that present day healing services are regularly held. The north aisle was widened and rebuilt in 1848.
A door halfway down the north aisle leads to a recently created 'comfort' facility. This was built in 2000, together with a kitchen and refreshment area, at the western end of the north wall. These additions were achieved through the bequests of Mary Thornton, who had been churchwarden, her neighbour, Lillian Thurston and the Swale family, and owe much to the tenacity of a later church warden, Margaret Woollett. Making any changes to a grade one star building needed the planning consent not only of the Diocesan Council in Salisbury, but of the Heritage and Historical Buildings Societies, as well as the local authorities. By the time plans were satisfactorily in place, the cost had almost trebled and the original plan for a separate church room, designed by John Reeby from Weymouth, had to be abandoned. An architect from Guildford drew up plans for a compromise solution, which has been beautifully incorporated into the church, with solid oak doors and oak panelling disguising the kitchen facility. A much-needed car park was built by a company from Blandford. This was achieved by the sale of a nearby, privately owned, field in exchange for the rental of another field owned by the church.
During the excavations for these alterations and for necessary drainage, archaeologists were called to record the discovery of bones from mass graves under and near the church. These were duly returned to the church and reburied by the rector at a special service. Details of this and of a medieval wall, which was unearthed at the same time, can be found in a report drawn up by the archaeological department in Dorchester. These new facilities were declared open in 2001, during a special service taken by Tim, Bishop of Sherborne.
The Shrine of St Candida (Patronal Day 1st June)
Apart from the royal tomb of Edward the Confessor, in Westminster Abbey, this is the only remaining relic in its shrine to have survived the Reformation. It is extraordinary that this medieval shrine, such a well-known place of pilgrimage, should have escaped the destruction of Henry the Eighth's commissioners.
On the 13th century base, with three oval openings, rests a fourteenth century coffin of Purbeck marble. The openings are for afflicted parts to be inserted for healing. There is evidence on the outside wall to suggest that lepers could have been in contact with the relic without entering the church. Whilst repairs to the end of the tomb were being carried out in April 1900, following a crack caused by frost the previous winter, the tomb was found to contain odd bits of bone, teeth, wood and lead as well as a large lead reliquary, two and a half feet long and eight inches high. The bones of a small woman were left undisturbed. The casket bore the inscription:
"CT RELIQUE SCE W HIC REQUESCT RELIQUE SCE WITE"
("Here rest the remains of St Wite").
The local legend of St Wite is that of a holy Saxon woman, a virgin hermit or anchoress, who was killed during a Danish raid at Charmouth in the 9th century; She is associated with a local spring, Saint Wite's Well, said to have healing properties, particularly for eye complaints. Maybe her hermitage was close to this well, which is on a cliff path to the south of the A35, and one of her duties was to light beacons to guide seafarers? There was a battle on Chardown Hill in 831, followed by general slaughter in the area. About fifty years later, during a period when he was commemorating people who had died for the faith at the hands of the Danes, Alfred the Great built the chapel known as St Wite's Church, where the current church stands.
Other legends suggest that visiting Bretons brought the relics of their Saint Blanche or Gwen (both meaning 'white') to Wessex in 911. There is also a, Wessex born St Witta who was martyred with St Boniface in Germany in 755. Since he was a man and the bones in the reliquary are female this seems less likely;
A more detailed exploration of the question, "Who was Saint Wite?" can be found in the booklet of that name, written by Christine Waters, which is on sale in the church. This was published in 1980, when the church celebrated 900 years of continuous ministry since the first known rector was appointed in 1080.
The survival of the shrine is most remarkable and exceedingly rare because all were supposed to have been destroyed during the Reformation. In medieval times, the shrine would have been a major pilgrim attraction and, as a result, a significant source of revenue for the church.