Portland: St George Reforne

Image: © Stefan Czapski Taken: 4 May 2011

To my mind there is nothing simple or rural about this Georgian church. It's grander than any church in Weymouth (a major resort in Georgian times), and wouldn't be out of place in Bath or Cheltenham, or one of London's Georgian squares. It must once have been surrounded by fields, but now rises out of a desolate landscape of worked-out quarries - and the vast necropolis seen here. The church was designed and built by a local mason, Thomas Gilbert, work starting in 1754 (Newman & Pevsner, 'The Buildings of England: Dorset'). According to Susann Palmer, the Portland archaeologist and historian, Gilbert's father had business contacts with Sir Christopher Wren - supplying him with stone. Whether the young Portlander received any direct guidance from Wren seems not to be known. He must, in any case, have been a man of considerable nerve and determination.

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