KINGSTON

Entered through a western narthex, Kingston, popularly known as the 'Cathedral of the Purbecks', is a splendid gothic revival church by the eminent Tractarian architect, G. E. Street, who is better known for the contemporaneous Royal Courts of Justice in London.  The tall central tower is a local landmark. The church shows the influence of French Gothic, but internally Street used local Purbeck marble for shafting.  The chancel is vaulted in stone and has a fine wrought iron screen.  The pulpit is another example of superb wrought iron work, all of which was executed to the designs of the architect.  There is a very important three-manual organ by Maley, Young and Oldknow contained in the shallow north transept, which was built for the church.

At the age of just 28, the third Lord Eldon, who lived nearby at Encombe, commissioned the architect to build his grandest church at a final cost of around £70,000. Although a fortune at the time, the work was undertaken entirely by the estate staff, thus providing employment during a period of depression.  It was completed in 1880 and Street called it his jolliest.  No expense had been spared to erect a monument to the memory of Lord Eldon's great-grandfather, the first Lord Eldon (1751-1838), who had been the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain for 25 years.