Widow paid for most of Monkton Wylde in west Dorset

It may be less than five miles due north of Lyme Regis as the crow flies, but more than five miles by the steep,winding roads that climb from sea level up into the lush hills and woodland on the border between Dorset and Devon.

Its evocative name means 'of the monks' - a reference to past ownership of land here by Forde Abbey.

Wyld, which seems to allude to the landscape, is in reality derived from the Old English 'wil' for 'a wile, or a trick' - probably 'a snare, or a trap' in this case as the woodlands here would have been ideal for poaching with the final 'd' added sometime in the reign of Mary Tudor.

These glorious old photos, which were taken by west Dorset photographer Claud Hider were produced as postcards from 1922 onwards.

They capture the rural isolation of Monkton Wyld perfectly, with just the church spire of St Andrew's poking out amid haphazard woodland copses and green fields visible for miles.

Playing skittles

We can also see residents having fun at a skittles game and a close-up image of the church, which has an interesting story behind it.

A wealthy widow is responsible for this church - and much of the habitation itself.

Monkton Wyld was originally just a manor, and a set of farms.

But it had the great good fortune to benefit from the patronage of Mrs Dodson.

Elizabeth Dodson (nee Burdon, c1798-1883) was the wealthy widow of Charles Philip Dodson Esq. of Stainly Hall, Yorkshire.

After the untimely death of her husband and all but one of her children, she channelled her energies into having a chapelry carved out of Wootton Fitzpaine and Uplyme (Devon) and built the church, rectory, school and schoolmaster's house almost entirely at her own expense.

Monkton Wyld from afar

Richard Cromwell Carpenter (1812-1855), an adept of the Gothic Revival style and a member of the Cambridge Movement, was commissioned to build both the church and the rectory. His was an age of dogmatism. 

Carpenter's church at Monkton Wyld, dedicated to St Andrew, is a perfect example of an ecclesiological church, emphasising as it does the beauty of holiness, a proper reverence for the saints and religious symbolism.

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Begun in 1848, the church was consecrated in 1850, although the spire was not completed until 1856, so that Cromwell never saw his finished work. 

St Andrew's Church

Built of flint and blue lias mortar with dressings of Caen stone, the church consists of a chancel in almost equal proportion to the nave, which is separated from side aisles by three-bay arcades, with a central tower culminating in a 120 foot high Northamptonshire broach steeple made of chert stone dressed with Caen stone, supported interiorly upon well proportioned gothic arches. The windows have flowing tracery, and there is stained glass by G.E. Cook and Powells of London. 

Inside St Andrew's

Inside the church, In a fitting tribute to the foundress, Elizabeth Dodson, there is an exquisite carved oak pulpit on a base of Mansfield stone and Devon marble, depicting saints Cecilia, Elizabeth of Hungary, Andrew and Mary Magdalene.

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Mrs Dodson's daughter, Frances, happened to be married to a clergyman, Rev. Robert Sparke Hutchings, and it was he she had invested as the first incumbent of Monkton Wyld.

Another view of Monkton Wyld

Some 15 years later Hutchings was succeeded by the curiously named Lester Lester, a man who, as the Dorset legend goes, was left a legacy on condition that he changed his name to Lester, and not knowing which of his names this referred to, changed both to be sure to qualify.

It is to the third incumbent, Rev. John Brook Maher Camm, and his wife, Caroline Arden, that we owe the further embellishment of the chancel, including the decorated rood screen, the brass altar rails and the oaken traceried choir stalls

Thanks to the Dorset OPC website and to Neil Mattingly for sharing his Claud Hider photo collection.