Evershot

39 EVERSHOT (D.c.)

(O.S. 6 in. XXI, S.W.)

Evershot is a parish and village 7 m. N.E. of Beaminster.

Ecclesiastical

(1) Parish Church of St. Osmond, formerly a chapel of Frome St. Quintin, stands in the village. The walls are of local rubble and freestone and the roofs are tiled. There was a 12th-century church here of which the reset chancel-arch and the responds of the tower-arch remain. The N. arcade was built in the 15th century and the Tower rebuilt. The church was restored and largely rebuilt in 1852–3 and in 1864 when the Chancel, Nave, North Aisle and the upper part of the tower were rebuilt and the South Aisle added; R. H. Shout was the architect.

Architectural Description—The Nave (33½ ft. by 13¾ ft.) has a 15th-century N. arcade of three bays with two-centred and moulded arches springing from moulded and shafted piers with moulded capitals and chamfered bases; the responds have attached half-piers.

The North Aisle is modern but reset in the E. wall is the former chancel-arch; it is of late 12th-century origin altered in the 14th century; the shafted responds have scalloped capitals and the two-centred arch is of one chamfered and one moulded order.

The West Tower (9¼ ft. square) is of three stages the two lower mainly of the 15th century; the bell-chamber and the buttresses are modern. The stair-turret was added in the 15th century. The tower-arch has plain 12th-century responds with chamfered imposts; the 13th-century arch is two centred and double chamfered. The W. doorway and window are modern except for some reused material in the window. The reset windows of the bell-chamber are of the 15th century and of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head.

Fittings—Bells: six, all by Thomas Bilbie, 1775. Brass: In chancel—on N. wall, to William Grey, rector, 1524–5, figure of priest in mass-vestments and holding chalice and wafer. Font: round bowl with moulded band and convex lower part, cylindrical stem and hollow-chamfered base, 13th-century. Monuments: In churchyard—S.E. of chancel, (1) to Agnis, wife of Walter Hallet, 1623, table-tomb; (2) to Mary . . ., late 17th-century table-tomb. Piscina: In S. aisle, in S. wall, recess with trefoiled head and sunk spandrels and panelled jambs, 15th-century, drain modern. Plate: includes an Elizabethan cup and cover-paten of 1570, two patens and a flagon of 1710 and a second flagon of 1723. Seating: In nave and tower—two coffin-stools with turned legs, early 18th-century. Miscellanea: In vestry—stone capital with carved figure of a man with key, late 12th-century.

Secular

(2) Lion Gate, gate-piers, now at the entrance to Melbury park, 750 yards N.N.E. of the parish church, are of wrought Ham Hill and Portland stone. They were built during the last quarter of the 17th century; in Thomas Hill's painting, c. 1698, on the N. wall of the main staircase in Melbury House (Melbury Sampford (2)) they are shown standing centrally before the E. front of the house. They are rusticated and contain round-headed semi-circular niches with ashlar-faced pedestals; each pier has a dentil-cornice and, on the top, a lion, standing and supporting a cartouche.

Monuments (3–9)

The following monuments, unless otherwise described, are of the 17th century and of two storeys; the walls are of local rubble and the roofs are covered with thatch, tiles or slates. Some of the buildings have exposed ceiling-beams.

(3) Cottage, on the N. side of the road 20 yards W. of the church, was built probably early in the 18th century.

(4) House, on the S. side of the road 40 yards S.E. of the church, was rebuilt about 1725 except for the S. wing. Incorporated in the stables is a panel with the initials and date I. and M. C. (?), 1681.

(5) House, 20 yards E. of (4), has been almost entirely rebuilt. It incorporates two reset stone windows and a panel with the initials and date I.R.M. 1667.

(6) Cottage E. of (5) and 100 yards E. of the church.

(7) Cottage, 30 yards E. of (6), has been considerably altered in front. The back wing retains two original four-light windows. A ruined building to the S. has a similar window.

(8) Old Rectory, 50 yards E. of (7), has modern additions at the back. The N. front retains a doorway with a four-centred arch in a square head with a label; adjoining it is an original four-light window with a label; the bay-window is of two storeys and has two lights in each of the three faces.

(9) Royal Oak Inn, 250 yards E. of the church, has been much altered but retains parts of an original panelled partition. In the N. front is an early 19th-century bow-window with dentil-cornice.