St Aldhelm"s Chapel

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St Aldhelm’s Chapel is a Norman chapel on St Aldhelm’s Head in the parish of Worth Matravers, Swanage, Dorset. It is a Grade I listed building.[1]
The square stone chapel stands within a low circular earthwork, which may be the remains of a pre-Conquest Christian enclosure.[2] The building has several architectural features which are unusual for a chapel; the square shape, the orientation of the corners of the building towards the cardinal points, and the division and restriction of the interior space by a large central column.[3] The lack of evidence for an altar or a piscina suggests that the building may not have been built as a chapel.[4] It may have originally been built as a watchtower for Corfe Castle, covering the sea approaches to the south.[3]
Its identification as a purpose-built chapel rests on records of payments to a chaplain in the reign of King Henry III (1261–1272).[2][4] The chapel appears to have gone out of use some time before 1625, and was in a ruinous condition by the end of the 18th ce - St Aldhelm"s Chapel - Buy Royalty Free 3D model by EagleVista (@EagleVista) [f56936e]