Steeple

Referred to in Domesday as “Stiple”, part of the manor of “Glole, Stiple and Criz” (Church Knowle, Steeple and Creech), the name of this village refers to the steepness of the hills around it. Located in the Purbecks 8 miles west of Swanage and 1 mile south of Wareham, Steeple had a population of 94 in 2001. Tiny it may be, but in the past it has found itself at the heart of controversy, from the imprisonment of its rector, Samuel Bolde, in 1682 by James II after a spirited defence of the rights of dissenters to their own beliefs, to the mass sighting of a phantom army in 1678, the “Purbeck apparition”, leading to the panicked mobilisation of Dorset’s defences on a false alarm.

Steeple is perhaps most famous for its association with the Lancastrian Lawrence and Washington families, allied through the marriage of Edmund Lawrence with heiress Agnes de Wessington in 1390. The Lawrences moved to Steeple in 1540, while John Washington, a member of a junior branch of Agnes’ family, moved to Virginia. The Lawrences of Steeple became extinct in 1691, but the Virginian Washingtons prospered and John’s great grandson, George, became the first President of the United States. The crusader cross of Lawrence quartering the mullets and bars of the Washington coat of arms can still be seen carved in the wall of St Michael and all Angels church. The design is identical to that engraved on the first President’s signet ring and provided the inspiration for the Stars and Stripes of the United States of America. In honour of this association, the church was recently presented by the Washington flag by that city’s Mayor.

The Lawrence estate was purchased by the Bond family of Lutton, a nearby farm now part of MoD territory. It was a member of this family, Thomas Bond, who in Stuart times laid out the now chic and famous London Street over fields of swamp and refuse tips, losing a fortune in the process. Counting several clergymen among their number through successive generations, it will come as no surprise that the Bonds were keen contributors to the enhancement of the church, as well as the constructors of the chapel of ease – incorporating Norman fragments from the ruins of Bindon Abbey – at Creech Grange. There has been a church at Steeple since the 12c and much of the original survives in the nave.  There is a 13c window in the north wall and a simple circular font. A north transept and porch were added in the 17c.  The tower is essentially 16c, but has Norman origins. Nathaniel Bond purchased a barrel organ for the church in 1858, which has recently been restored to full working order, while Prebendary Nathaniel Bond (1852-1889) was responsible for rebuilding the chancel.

Creech Grange, the country seat of first the Lawrences and later the Bonds, was built in 1559 by Sir Oliver Lawrence, brother-in-law of Henry the VIII's Lord Chancellor. Only fragments of this original house remain, having been burnt by the Parliamentarians during the Civil War, and undergoing a series of modifications through the years, until in 1846 the front was entirely taken down and rebuilt in the local Tudor style. It was amongst several properties viewed as a possible retirement home for Sir Anthony Eden in the 1950s, but perhaps the persistent noise of gunfire from the Lulworth ranges deterred him.

The Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for Steeple is Kim Parker