The Avalanche Memorial Church, also known as the Church of St Andrew, is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church in Southwell, on the

Isle of Portland The Isle of Portland is a tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. The southern tip, Portland Bill, lies south of the resort of Weymouth, Dorset, Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England. It was built in 1879 and remains active as part of the Portland Parish. The church, along with its boundary wall, has been a Grade II Listed building since September 1978. The church was designed C.R. George Crickmay in an early English style. Built by Lynham and Bayliss of Portland, it was completed in 1879 and consecrated by the Bishop of Salisbury on 3 July. The church is not to be confused with the ruins of Portland's first parish church, the 13th century

St Andrew's Church St. Andrew's Church, Church of St Andrew, or variants thereof, may refer to: Albania * St. Andrew's Church, Himarë Australia Australian Capital Territory * St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Canberra, founded by John Walker (Presbyterian minis ...

History

In September 1877, two ships, the SS ''Avalanche'' of the

Shaw Savill Line Shaw Savill Line of London was a shipping company set up to transport both produce and passengers between Great Britain and New Zealand.Prospectus ''The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national n ...

and the SS ''Forest'', collided off Portland Bill during stormy conditions. The ''Avalanche'' was taking 63 passengers to their homes in New Zealand, while the ''Forest'' had a crew of 22. The tragedy claimed the lives of 106 people, and by the dawn local fishermen at

Chesil Cove Chesil Cove is a curved steep bank forming the south-east end of Chesil Beach in Dorset, England. It is thus part of one of three large shingle structures in Britain, extending from West Bay, Dorset, West Bay to the Isle of Portland (Portland B ...

rescued the survivors and brought them ashore. The disaster became national news and a national campaign was launched, raising £2,000 in donations for a new church to be erected as a memorial. The church features memorials to those drowned and testimonials to the bravery of the local fishermen. Some of the windows, the lectern, and the pulpit were funded by relatives and friends of those who drowned. There is a picture of the ''Avalanche'', an artist's impression of the two Portland

lerret A lerret is a type of rowing boat designed for use off the Chesil Beach in Dorset. It is of wooden, clinker (boat building), clinker construction and varied in size, depending on the number of oars – the largest would have up to eight. It w ...

s coming into land after the rescue and a framed copy of the testimonial presented to William Flann. There is also a brass tablet listing the names and, where known, the descriptions of the passengers and crew of the ''Avalanche''. The most notable artifact is the large anchor of the ''Avalanche'', which was raised and donated to the church in 1984.

References

External links

*
Portland Parish website
{{Isle of Portland Isle of Portland Grade II listed churches in Dorset 1879 establishments in England Church of England church buildings in Dorset