Fleet Old Church

A church at Fleet is known to have existed as early as 1086 when one was recorded in the Domesday Book, with a monk from Abbotsbury Abbey named Bolla as the village's priest.[3] The church's surviving chancel is believed to date to the 15th century,[2] suggesting it was later rebuilt. The church was dedicated to Holy Trinity and belonged to the Christchurch Priory until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In a 1552 survey of the "Church Goods of Dorset", Fleet's church was recorded as having a tower with two bells.[4]

The church's nave was significantly damaged in the Great Storm of 1824,[2] which also destroyed a number of the village's houses. Owing to the extent of the church's damage, the Rector of Fleet, Rev. George Gould, decided to have a new church constructed at his expense. Designed by William Strickland and built in 1827–29, the new church of Holy Trinity was sited 540 yards inland from the original church.[5]

With the construction of the new church, the nave of the original was demolished in 1827, but the chancel was retained and repaired for use as a mortuary chapel.[6][2] The church was featured in the 1898 novel Moonfleet by J. Meade Falkner.[7][8]

The surviving chancel is built of local rubble, with freestone dressings and stone slate roofs. It has a window of 17th century origin, with the side walls each containing a blocked window. The interior has an arch-braced collar roof. A number of monuments survive within the building: one to Robert Mohun, dated 1603, one to Maximilian Mohun, dated 1612, and another to Francis Mohun, dated 1711–12. There is also a plaque dedicated to J. Meade Faulkner.[5][2]

• Media related to Old Church, East Fleet at Wikimedia Commons