Knowlton Church

Knowlton Church is one of my favourite places in England. Although it may appear on the Internet on several sites it retains a mysterious, almost intangible quality, somewhere you can go anytime of year and feel energised simply by being there.

I remember a few years ago driving out to the church, it is off a 'B' road between Wimborne and Cranborne, on the 21st December with my compact camera and video camera, waiting for the sun to come up through the mist that often hangs over this part of Dorset. By the time the sun did rise I had been joined by two other photographers and a television crew. The site has been the subject of both archaeological and geological studies together with visits from various groups interested in the rumours of ghosts and unexplained sounds that manifest themselves in the area surrounding the church.

The site itself is an example of what is known as Christianisation, the building of a Christian church, in this case a Norman construction, in the centre of what was a Pagan site. The idea being that a new organised religion would drive out the old Pagan rituals - which is a bit rich, given that there is plenty of evidence across England that Pagans were very much organised thank you! The church sits inside two of possibly eight Neolithic circles or Henges. The circles other than the two in which it sits can only be seen from air. The photograph below is courtesy of English Heritage.

There was a small village called Knowlton but this was wiped out by the Black Death, it is possible to see the remains of the village to the west of the church but these aren't visible in the photography above.

The Church was used after the demise of the village by people from surrounding villages and even as late as 1747 the building was given a new roof. The roof fell in almost immediately, the bell disappeared and the church was left to fall into the ruinous condition we see today. Local legend has it that the bell was stolen by the devil who threw it into the nearby River Allen, another story states that thieves took it and whilst being chased by people who wanted the bell to stay with the church it was dropped into the River Stour. Whatever happened to the bell is conjecture, the site as I have said possesses a magical quality and sitting on one of the banks of the earthworks on a summers evening watching the sun go down is simply wonderful.

Taken ten minutes before sunset. Looking from the north-east of the earthworks

I was talking to a wedding photographer recently who is preparing a series called 'Brides in Unusual Places' - well that's the working title anyway - and I suggested this church to her and e-mailed three photographs I had taken last winter. She contacted me to say it looked very promising, so if you see such a photograph remember where you saw the idea first.