St Mary's, Longfleet (SML or SML Poole) is a

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

Longfleet Longfleet is a small district of Poole, in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England, centred on Longfleet Road. It is situated directly north of the town centre and lies to the east of Oakda ...

, a district of

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

, in the

ceremonial county Ceremonial counties, formally known as ''counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'', are areas of England to which lord-lieutenant, lord-lieutenants are appointed. A lord-lieutenant is the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch's repres ...

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 ...

, on the south coast of England. It is part of the New Wine network and describes itself as an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal. In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership. In Christian theology, the term ...

church.

Location

St Mary's is located on the south side of Longfleet Road, just above

Poole Hospital Poole Hospital (also known as Poole General Hospital) is an acute general hospital in Poole, Dorset, England. Built in 1907, it has expanded from a basic 14-bed facility into a 789-bed hospital. It is the trauma centre for east Dorset and provi ...

. It has a prominent spire that may be seen for miles around.

History

St. Mary's is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

church that was built in the years 1830–33 and consecrated on 25 September 1833.''Longfleet Connections''
at freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Accessed on 24 September 2012. It built chiefly at the expense of Lord de Mauley>Wilson, John Marius. ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' 1870-72, a
Vision of Britain
Retrieved 4 Nov 2016. and was originally designed by

Edward Blore Edward Blore (13 September 1787 – 4 September 1879) was a 19th-century English landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. Early career Blore was born in Derby, the son of the antiquarian writer Thomas Blore. Blore's backg ...

, but has been considerably modified since. In 1863, a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and organ chamber were added by

G. E. Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccl ...

and the year 1884 saw the western end enhanced by a spire, high, erected by G. R. Crickmay and Son. The spire was donated by William Pearce JP, a 19th-century Mayor of Poole, who resided at nearby Springfield House. There was further remodelling in 1915 which saw the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

rebuilt with aisles and

transepts A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") churches, in particular within the Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architectu ...

by Herbert Kendell of Poole. According to

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

, "in spite of a surprisingly complicated development, the church is an effective composition, whose major accent, the northwest tower and spire, is one of Poole's most important landmarks." In 1995 the church was assessed as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Longfleet parish was formed in 1837 from Great Canford. Its boundaries changed in 1946 when part of Longfleet became the new parish of Oakdale St George. The living was, and still is, a vicarage in the

Diocese of Salisbury The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the historic county of Dorset (which excludes the deaneries of Bournemouth and Christchurch, ...

. Its patron in the 1870s was Sir J. B. Guest, Bart., who owned

Canford Manor Canford School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18). Situated in 300 acres of parkland near to the market town of Wimborne Minster in Dorset, south west England, it is one of the largest s ...

, now

Canford School Canford School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18). Situated in 300 acres of parkland near to the market town of Wimborne Minster in Dorset, south west England, it is one of the largest ...

Today

St. Mary's describes itself as a "vibrant

Church" and "a large multi-generational church with an informal atmosphere." The church is part of the

New Wine New Wine is a not-for-profit Christian charismatic evangelical organisation based in England, United Kingdom. It equips Christian churches and leaders in spiritual renewal, worship and church planting. Overview The purpose of New Wine is "loc ...

Network''St. Mary's Longfleet, Poole''
at www.smlpoole.org.uk. Accessed on 11 September 2012. and, has a congregation of around 700, which is the largest in the

. The church continues to serve the local community and has several Sunday School classes as well as ministries for men, women, youth, pastoral care, outreach and worship. It is very active and works with local authorities, e.g. through Faithworks Wessex, running projects like MON£Y MATT£RS, a money management and debt advice service, and Befrienders, linking up with people who are in need of companionship. The church also has close links with Longfleet Church of England Primary School, which was formerly opposite on Longfleet Road. The present incumbent, Rev. Andrew Perry, became the vicar of St. Mary's in 1995 and has overseen the church as its community has grown from 80 to around 800. He was installed as a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...

on 3 July 2012.

Church centre

In August 2011, St Mary's was granted planning permission to redevelop its church centre''SML Church Centre Building Project''
at www.smlpoole.org.uk. Accessed on 20 July 2013 as a facility for the church and local community. The church centre is in Kingston Road, but faces the church itself across Longfleet Road. Work commenced in May 2013 and a

pelican crossing A pelican crossing is a type of pedestrian crossing with traffic signals for both pedestrians and vehicular traffic, activated by call buttons for pedestrians, with the walk signal being directly across the road from the pedestrian. Pelican cro ...

over Longfleet Road was installed. The new church centre was completed in May 2014 and officially opened on 23 September 2014 at a celebration attended by the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...

Nicholas Holtam Nicholas Roderick Holtam (born 8 August 1954) is a retired bishop of the Church of England. He served as Bishop of Salisbury from 2011 until his retirement in 2021. Early life and education Holtam grew up around Edmonton, London, where he attend ...

. It is used regularly by

and local health charities.

Church graft

In April 2018, SML sent a new vicar, Rev. Tessa Nisbet, and around 20 church members to lead a 'church graft' at St Michael's Church,

Hamworthy Hamworthy is a suburb of Poole, in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It is sited on a peninsula of approximately that is bordered by the town of Upton to the north, Poole Harbour to ...

, and St Gabriel's Church,

Turlin Moor Turlin Moor is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, England, located between Hamworthy and Upton, Dorset, Upton. Turlin Moor is host to Hamworthy railway station. The two railway bridges at the end of the estate on Blandford Road form the meeting point ...

, in order to bring a new lease of life to the local community and turn around declining congregations.''Church graft in Hamworthy bids to improve declining congregation''
at www.bournemouthecho.co.uk. Retrieved 2 Jul 2018.

Gallery

File:Poole, the hospital and Longfleet St. Mary's in semi-silhouette - geograph.org.uk - 1430388.jpg, Poole Hospital and the spire of St Mary's seen across Poole Park Lake

References

External links

St Mary's Church: Official Site.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church, Longfleet Church of England church buildings in Dorset Churches in Poole Grade II listed churches in Dorset Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Dorset