Upward Arrow
Tip:  hold "shift" and click on link to open in new window
Tree Tree

 Portland 
Menu:
This Location:   Main Page   
Outside Pages:    Outside    Gravestones    Lych Gate
Inside Pages:   Inside    Church Organ    Font    Memorials    Stained Glass Windows
Other Pages:   Information sheets
Related Pages:   Around Portland    Cenotaph (War Memorial)


   
Search surnames at   this  location or  all  locations

The Church of St. George, Portland, Dorset, England



We arrived at St. George on Portland on a wonderfully sunny afternoon with bright blue skies but an hour later cloud suddenly descended.  It was a rather strange experience to watch as and the church disappeared before our eyes!  The atmosphere was palpable and we must admit that if we were not used to being in graveyards, it would have been quite eerie to say the least.  We suppose being on an island next to the sea this is a regular occurence but something we had not experienced so quickly before.

The church building is quite different from others we have visited, being a very smart Georgian style, and is now under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.  See their website at:  CCT.  They are used to visitors to the church and while we were there a volunteer there who was full of enthusiasm and knowledge and told us of many things about the building we might otherwise have missed.

Three parts of the church are listed for their historic value and information about the listings can be found at the Historic England website:
    The church building is Grade I -  St. George listing
    The lych gate is GV II -  Lych Gate listing
    The graveyard wall is Grade II listed -  Graveyard Wall listing.

The graveyard is extensive and we quickly knew we would not be able to photograph it all, so spent most of our time inside the church instead.  The graveyard was unusual - all that we could see were in the grey/white Portland stone (instead of a mix of types of stone and colours) which made it look quite uniform even though the shapes of the stones varied considerably.  The church too was looking almost white in the sunshine and the whole area looked cohesive and very striking.

A notice in the churchyard tells us the CCT have now adopted a management regime so it becomes a haven for wildlife.  This means leaving grass uncut which will of course make it look very untidy and unkempt and usually means the gravestones become lost from sight and even damaged.  We hope all gravestones have been photographed and inscriptions recorded before nature is allowed to reclaim the land.

It would be nice to re-visit Portland and photograph all the stones before they erode and the inscriptions and carvings are lost forever, but we reckon it could easily take a whole week to photograph, if not more, and as we do not live near it this is unlikely to happen.   Should we be able to return it will be interesting to see how the area has changed from our first visit and if our fear that the stones will be lost amongst the grass has happened.

More information about St. George can be found at the  Portland History  website.

Outside
 | Top  |  Portland Menu  |
Portland - photo: 00147
Photo No: 00147     Size: 1070k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00148
Photo No: 00148     Size: 805k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00149
Photo No: 00149     Size: 917k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00079
Grade II Lych Gate
More photographs
Photo No: 00079     Size: 1128k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00150
The apse (east end) wall
Photo No: 00150     Size: 1306k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00151
Notice on apse wall
Photo No: 00151     Size: 1437k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00153
Coming round to the south side
Photo No: 00153     Size: 1821k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00152
Photo No: 00152     Size: 1400k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00154
Photo No: 00154     Size: 1229k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00155
The south centre section
Photo No: 00155     Size: 1304k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00156
The main entrance
Photo No: 00156     Size: 1310k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00157
Churches Conservation Trust notice
Photo No: 00157     Size: 1054k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00158
Photo No: 00158     Size: 2009k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00159
The view from the south at slightly different angles and distances
Photo No: 00159     Size: 1168k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00160
Photo No: 00160     Size: 1015k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00162
Photo No: 00162     Size: 1072k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00163
Photo No: 00163     Size: 1130k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00166
Photo No: 00166     Size: 1115k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00167
Photo No: 00167     Size: 1148k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00175
Photo No: 00175     Size: 1021k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00168
Moving round to the west end
Photo No: 00168     Size: 1023k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00171
Photo No: 00171     Size: 869k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00170
Photo No: 00170     Size: 881k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00173
A bird of prey on the church
(or should that be bird of pray?)
Photo No: 00173     Size: 646k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00172
The bell
Photo No: 00172     Size: 1405k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00174
Photo No: 00174     Size: 1029k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00165
Moving round to the north side
Photo No: 00165     Size: 843k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00161
Photo No: 00161     Size: 1288k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00164
Photo No: 00164     Size: 1287k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00183
Notice about the management regime of the graveyard
Photo No: 00183     Size: 997k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00182
Photo No: 00182     Size: 1329k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00177
Photo No: 00177     Size: 1016k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00180
Photo No: 00180     Size: 678k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00181
Photo No: 00181     Size: 691k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00178
Photo No: 00178     Size: 1193k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00179
Photo No: 00179     Size: 1255k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00184
Photo No: 00184     Size: 1133k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00198
At this point in taking photographs a cloud desended upon us very quickly
Photo No: 00198     Size: 991k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00190
Photo No: 00190     Size: 1146k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00192
Photo No: 00192     Size: 1045k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00201
Photo No: 00201     Size: 1243k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00191
Photo No: 00191     Size: 1048k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00202
Photo No: 00202     Size: 740k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00200
Photo No: 00200     Size: 1173k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00187
Photo No: 00187     Size: 741k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00195
Photo No: 00195     Size: 860k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00100
Photo No: 00100     Size: 588k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00196
Photo No: 00196     Size: 689k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00188
Photo No: 00188     Size: 592k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00197
Photo No: 00197     Size: 625k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00199
Photo No: 00199     Size: 753k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00189
Photo No: 00189     Size: 655k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00193
Photo No: 00193     Size: 663k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00194
Photo No: 00194     Size: 590k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00185
Silhouettes of angels in the graveyard from the near by road
Photo No: 00185     Size: 461k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00176
Photo No: 00176     Size: 522k
Photo Date: April 2015
Portland - photo: 00186
A car park is just a short distance away
Photo No: 00186     Size: 785k
Photo Date: April 2015

Search surnames at  this  location or  all  locations


Tip:  hold "shift" and click on link to open in new window
This page was last updated on 30/07/2022 15:37:04
© Copyright D & M Ball 1999-2022
oodwooc mē fēcit