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The South Aisle

At the East end of this aisle will be seen The Lady Chapel with its beautifully carved oak Altar which had formerly been the High Altar. It is surmounted by a very fine painting of The Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus. There are three stained-glass windows in this end of the aisle. The first is of St. Matthew and in memory of Henry Stickland and Harriett his wife; the second is of St. Andrew erected in memory of George and Elizabeth Edwards and the third is of St Mark erected to commemorate the restoration and redecoration of the church and dated 1906.

On the South wall there are further Charity boards, two brass plates in respect of past members of the Dorset Yeomanry, and numerous memorials many of which bear the armorial bearings of the families concerned. One of these is to the memory of Dr. Richard Pulteney and his wife - he had been a practising physician in Blandford for 36 years but was better known to the world at large as a Fellow of the Royal Society and distinguished botanist and member of the Linnean Society. He lived at Coupar House, now known as Legion House. Other memorials include those to other members of the Pitt family who had been great benefactors to Blandford in their time and to the Lewin Milbourne, Butler, Dennett, Spooner, Clerk, Davis, Williams, Wake and Bastard families, the latter having their principal memorial in the Northern cemetery.

The font is unusual, being of Portland stone but treated by the carver as if it was wood. It resembles very much the one made by the Bastard family for nearby Charlton Marshall and there is no doubt they are both from the same workshop. It has an octagonal bowl resting on a square baluster decorated with carved flowers and formal designs. The cover seems to be older and may have come from St. Antholins church at the same time as the pulpit. The South wall also contains a small gallery which is over the South doorway.

In 1738 William Knapp wrote an anthem 'to be sung at Blandford on 4th June every year to commemorate a terrible fire that afflicted the town on that date in the year 1731'. It was contained in a set of new psalm tunes and anthems published by him at Poole, which ran to seven later editions between 1741 and 1770. It has not been sung at Blandford within living memory - the Director of Music at Blandford church would like to see a copy. It is possible it was never used as some of the past Rectors had strong views on what music should be played. In 1801 the Rev. J.G. Sherer strongly objected to the playing of 'God Save The King' and made his views known in a long printed address to his parishioners - he argued 'Where is that congregation of Christian people who would not turn with trembling and abhorrence from peals of rude and bacchanalian sound bursting upon their senses in their devotional exercises'. In 1821 a faculty was obtained for the purchase of part of a field fronting Damory Lane called Little Stuts or Little Bowling Green for use as an additional churchyard. Burials took place here until the new cemetery on the Salisbury road came into use. The parish church finances suffered a considerable blow in 1868 when the levying of church rates on everyone of whatever denomination came to an end.

The Church Plate