This
beautiful little church stands high on the Dorset cliffs and is dedicated to
St Nicholas the Patron saint of sailors and fishermen. The building itself is
the best examples of Norman religious architecture in the county but the use
of the site for Christian purposes dates back to the Anglo-Saxon period some
thirteen centuries ago. The original building was almost completely destroyed
by the Vikings, although there are still traces left of it in the building that
stands on the site today.
The
most striking structural feature, the stubby tower, was not intended to look
like this but at some point in the building work the full tower was abandoned.
The most plausible theory for this was that they did not feel confident that
the minimal foundation could handle the full tower and so topped it off at the
truncated height we see.
One final point to note is that there is a fascinating gravestone to the south
and west of the building as you approach it from the road. It is of a soldier
who in many of the great wars of the late eighteenth century and early ninteenth
century culminating in the victory at Waterloo. Ironically he married a French
woman before finally settling down at Studland.
