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Not the prettiest of churches, nor the easiest to find (see the Tarrant Crawford Walk for details)
St Mary's, Tarrant Crawford seems to be perched awkwardly on the side of the hill
as if it had jumped up there when the river flooded, and can't quite figure how to get down.
Not an entirely fanciful idea as the name Tarrant (more usually rendered Trent) is a Celtic word for a river prone to flooding.
These days however, like most chalkland streams, the Tarrant is more in danger of drying up than flooding.
The tower, with its odd pitched roof (built to house the smallest of the three bells) looks a bit too big.
Either that or the Nave is too narrow, and the windows seem to have been dotted around at random; five on the north side but only one on the south.
Inside is prettier. But the real glory of St Mary's is the 13th
and 14th century wall paintings, many of which are in a remarkable state of preservation.
These cover most of the interior walls of the Nave and Chancel,
but it is on the the unbroken expanse of the South Wall that they are at their most impressive.
This wall is completely covered with two rows of paintings:
The upper row depicts various subjects whilst the lower is taken up with a scene showing three kings or princes out hawking,
who come upon three animated skeletons who warn them of the emptiness of earthly rank and riches.
These days, the only buildings near to the church are the substantial farmhouse and associated buildings of Tarrant Abbey Farm,
but in medieval times
this is the site of one of the richest Cistercian nunneries in England.
It was founded in the 12 century by Ralph de Kahaines (of nearby Tarrant Keyneston), but it was under the patronage of Bishop Richard Poore,
that Tarrant Abbey grew to be so important.
Poore was born in Tarrant Crawford and went on to be successively Bishop of Chichester, Salisbury and then Durham.
Whilst at Salisbury he was responsible for building the present Cathedral on the Water meadows below Old Sarum.
He was buried at Tarrant Crawford Abbey in 1237. The following year Joan,
the sister of Henry III, Queen of Alexander II of Scotland,
was also buried in the abbey.
It is all the more surprising, therefore, that almost nothing remains of this once great ecclesiastical building.
There is a medieval barn and some smaller farm buildings, and it said that the abbey guesthouse was incorporated into the present farmhouse.
Apart from that, nothing, we don't even know where the abbey church was, so total has been the obliteration.
Monasteries of Dorset by Alan Miller
A very readable account of the history and remains of the monasteries of Dorset with maps and plans. [Currently out of print]
The remnants of this old cross stand on a stone plinth at the junction where you turn off to Shapwick from Tarrant Keyneston to Spetisbury road.
The inscription
on its base reads:
THIS WAYSIDE CROSS WAS RESTORED & SET ON NEW STEPS ON THE OLD SITE BY MANY FRIENDS OF TARRANT CRAWFORD ANNO DOM MDCCCCXIV
