St Bartholomew Parish Church: Newly restored 'Owen Jones' Wall paintings throughout Chancel, Nave and Baptistry:
ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S, SUTTON WALDRON – DT11 8PB
At St. Bartholomew’s we offer the following worship services and we are always pleased to welcome visitors and new-comers. To find out more please read below.
Service times:
1st Sunday 9.30 a.m. Holy Communion
2nd Sunday 9.30 a.m. Breakfast Church held in the Village hall or Holy Communion in church (See “Pews News” entry on website)
3rd Sunday 9.30 a.m. Morning worship
4th Sunday 9.30 a.m. Holy Communion
5th Sunday 10 a.m. Benefice service in one of the five Benefice churches
(For details each month see Benefice Newsletter on this website)
Families are very welcome to attend. The church has an inviting and well resourced children’s area.
The Parish of Sutton Waldron
The Village of Sutton Waldron is situated just off the A350 between the Villages of Fontmell Magna and Iwerne Minster in North Dorset. We are a small parish consisting of some 85 dwellings and a population of 225 (2021 Census). Historically, Sutton Waldron was an agricultural community but that is no longer the case. There is no pub nor shop but there is a well used village hall. Breakfast church is held here. The village hall and the church form the village foci. There is a “Friends of St. Bartholomew’s Society” which has “Charity” status. Its aim is to support the maintenance of the fabric of the church. It enables those members of the village and beyond, who do not normally attend church services but are interested in the well-being of the church building, to play their part. Funds raised help reduce the financial burden of the church upkeep and support applications for grants.
Our Church
St. Bartholomew’s is an early Victorian building. Consecrated in 1847. It replaced an earlier Saxon church. In 1838 the Rev’d Anthony Huxtable was
appointed rector. He pulled the old church down and at the sole expense of himself and his wife built the present church. Its architect was George Alexander.
The church is grade 2 star listed. It contains unique internal decoration which has recently been restored (completed September 2025). The work being the only surviving complete scheme of work by the renown artist, illustrator and architect, Owen Jones (1809-1874), Pevsner and Newman in their book - “The Buildings of England – Dorset” state that the decoration is recognised as “probably the most important surviving scheme of this pioneer of high Victorian design”. Jones was appointed superintendent of the works for the Great Exhibition in London of 1851. There is a direct link between St. Bartholomew’s colour scheme and that used by Jones for The Crystal Palace.
(See “Country Life” magazine 20th May 2026
The whole interior is of one and complete. John Betjeman said of St. Bartholomew’s that it is “so beautifully proportioned inside and so delicately coloured… that it is as satisfying, soaring, graceful and mysterious within as many a better known mediaeval church” and “one of the best and most lovely examples of Victorian architecture.”
John Piper, the celebrated 20th century artist, also visited and produced a painting and a lithograph of its interior.
As part of the recent restoration work the church has a new lighting system and high quality audio and visual facilities. With its original, moveable nave
and South aisle pews and an uncluttered and open chancel (there are no choir stalls) the church provides an excellent venue for a variety of forms of worship not to mention concerts, plays and other similar activities.
Situated at the very end of Church Lane, both within, amongst the beauty of its decoration, and outside, with its views over the Iwerne Valley, St. Bartholomew’s provides a place of real peace offering spiritual renewal for all.
Visitors are warmly invited to attend services or to visit at their own convenience. Group visits can be accommodated with educational inputs/talks provided, if required. For further information please contact:- admin@owenjonessuttonwaldron.org
The church is open daily at least between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.