Welcome to St. Michael and All Angels, Stour Provost
Welcome to the Parish Church of St. Michael and All Angels’, Stour Provost, Dorset (Stour Provost is also known as Stower Provost and the parish includes the village of Stour Row). Local or visitor, we hope you find the information you seek here. Regular church-goer or not, you will be welcome at any of our events; committed Christian or enquirer all are welcome at our services – see below for our upcoming services. (Although St. Michael’s is a Church of England Church, you don’t have to be a member to worship with us).
Stour Provost Church is one of a group of seven Anglican churches in the north of Dorset which form the Stour Vale Benefice; the parishes are shown in the menus above.
See our Safeguarding Page for full Safeguarding information, or click here for our Safeguarding policy.
Life Events
As the Stour Provost Parish Church we are here to serve all those who live in the parish and may be able to help others with connections to the village too. If you are looking to arrange a baptism or wedding at St. Michael’s Church, or if you are interested in being confirmed, please contact the Benefice Administrator who will be happy to provide the information you need.
Funerals are usually arranged by the Funeral Director but we do have more information about church funerals on our Funerals page to help you think about what you would like.
Visiting Us
The map of the Benefice on the Home Page shows the location of our church on a map. Parking is possible alongside the churchyard in Church Lane.
The Church of St Michael & All Angels,
Stour Provost, Gillingham
Dorset,
SP8 5RZ.
Services & Celebrations
Giving
It is wonderful to have a building to worship in in which God has been praised since 1302, a reminder that the church is for people of all generations, and those subsequent generations have left their mark in the form of additions and modifications of the building.
If your ancestors came from here our family history page may help you (nb we don’t hold old parish registers in the church – they are in the Dorset History Centre in Dorchester).
However, an old building also brings a not-insignificant task of maintenance, and we are constantly having to raise money. If you would like to make a donation please contact our Churchwarden.
The Church of St. Michael and All Angels
The present building was largely built in 1302 though it has gone through alterations and rebuilding over the centuries. These changes include:
- C15th: the addition of a tower and at least 2 bells; the present font dates from this century – though clearly there must have been one before
- C16th: the richly carved chancel roof and the north aisle were added
- C17th: the addition (or recasting) of 2 more bells; there is also a Communion table from this century, now kept in the vestry as well as an oak chest
- C18th: a “singing gallery” was built, but this was removed in the C20th. The upper stage of the tower is 18th century, though with earlier material. The church does still have an oak chest, an alms dish and an old clock of this period.
- C19th: the porch was added, though it contains some mediæval materials, and the chancel was rebuilt
- C20th: the current pulpit was added as a memorial to one of the casulties of the First World War.
St. Michael and All Angels History
The arms of the monarchs around this time all varied in certain ways; these are the arms of Charles II (1630 – 1685), but with “A.R. 1701” added (although usually said to have ascended in 1702, Anne’s accession was 1701 by the Old Style calendar).
The Churchwardens’ Accounts show payments in 1685 and 1712 to a painter for altering the arms, but there is little evidence of the alterations that should have been made!