St Mary, Cerne Abbas. Dorset

This was long an objective for the day but with all the stops we kept doing it was gone 5pm when we got here.

The church sits proud above the small town square, at the end of Abbey Street. The abbey has largely disappeared. Mostly Perp, although the chancel has some EE features in the side lancets, but the large east window of six lights is Perp. It wouldn't have been seen from the nave originally as the stone screen, with its solid wall where one might expect a dado and pierced openings above, originally had solid wall above it too. The church has been well restored and also there is a good touristic display and guide. The interior is wide and spacious. In the sanctuary are remains of wall paintings but there are no real memorials of note, and only Jacobean rails and a pulpit with tester (which for some reason I cut off in the photo I took - duh!). Texts survive aplenty,one with date 1679 (north side of nave) and another of 1962 (south side of nave) although I suspect this refers to the restoration of them throughout the church.

Soon too we were greeting a naked old man who was well pleased to see us as we munched a late picnic of Eccles Cakes in the picnic area to the north off the little town.