St Eustace

Climbing a steep path to St Eustace, a Grade II* church (one of three churches in the UK with this dedication) rewards you with a magnificent view overlooking Ibberton and the Blackmore Vale. St Eustace was built between 1380 and 1400; a tower and north aisle being added in 1500.

During the second half of the 19th century the building fell into disrepair, the final collapse occurring in 1889. A corrugated iron and timber building was constructed in the village in 1893 and used until 1909 as a temporary church and for services, including baptisms. Marriages, however, had to be solemnized in the nave of the dilapidated church!

The restoration of the old church was started in 1902 under the direction of the Revd LS Plowman (rector from 1899-1927) and was reopened by the Bishop of Salisbury on 17th July 1909, the total cost of the work being in the region of £1,500. The temporary church is now used as a village hall.

On the north and south walls there are memorial tablets to two brothers, Richard and Joseph D'Aubeny, one a rector and the other a squire of the parish; their ancestors came over with William the Conqueror.

On either side of the altar are stone slabs incised with the Ten Commandments which belong to the late 18th or the early 19th century.

The westernmost window of the south wall of the chancel contains some 15th century glass depicting the Arms of Milton Abbey. There are fragments of Tudor stained glass in two of the windows, the eastern most one containing the Arms of Elizabeth I.

Four bells hang in the tower dated 1641, 1656, 1799 and 1813 and they were cast by William Purdue, Thomas Purdue, Thomas Mears and James Wells respectively. In 1982 extensive repairs were carried out to the bells and their fittings by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The 1656 bell, being cracked, was recast and all four bells were then re-hung for stationary chiming.

The clock is a First World War Memorial, the names of the Fallen being on a plate in the porch.