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Church Hill, BLANDFORD FORUM, DT11 8LS

Heddle House in Tower Hill is built in a mixture of rubble, flint and red brick with timber framing and brick noggin. Probably originally 18th century with major remodelling in the early 20th century when the shop front was added in the angle of the two ranges. Listed, grade II, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1324615 Iwerne Minster is a small village on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, about 5 miles south of Shaftesbury and the same distance north of Blandford Forum. The village is within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Down Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There is evidence of occupation since prehistoric times. The River Iwerne flows from a spring in the middle of the village. The original Minister is now St Mary's Church and was built by the Normans on the site of an earlier church.

The porch presents a lovely large entrance to the church, with a parapet above the archway and stone benches within the porch. Over the doorway can be seen a niche in which a statue once stood. The porch is 14th century, but its eastern side rests against a 12th century section of the church.

There a number of very old tombs and gravestones within the churchyard.

The church is a beautiful building with features dating from many different dates and styles. It has a medieval ribbed stone spire, one of only three in Dorset.

An old mate of mine used to work for the OS and said whenever he had to classify such a church half the people there would say it was a tower and half a spire. This one I took a couple of years ago has the reverse categorisation http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1897832