Low viewpoint of the west tower of Wimborne Minster viewed in autumn
Wimborne Minster (often referred to locally as Wimborne) is a market town in the East Dorset district of Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. The central town has a population of 6,418 (according to the 2001 Census) and is situated at the confluence of the River Stour and River Allen, five miles north of Poole. This is a Saxon Church, with Norman and Gothic architecture. It is famed for its unique chained library and the tombs of King Ethelred, the brother of Alfred the Great, as well as the tombs of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and his duchess, the maternal grandparents of King Henry VII of England. The central tower and nave were founded in Saxon times, but the surviving building is predominantly Norman in design and construction, with Gothic components from various periods. One of its more famous architectural features include a working astronomical clock, which rings every hour and is represented in the form of a colourful quarterjack. The minster is built in a combination of Dorset limestone and New Forest stone. The central length of the minster is 198 feet. The width, except the transepts, varies from 23 feet in the nave to 21 in the choir. The western tower of the minster is 95 feet high. The smaller tower of the minster, above the transepts, is 84 feet. The thirteenth-century spire which once topped this tower fell down in a storm around 1600. In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building. Preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls is important because running water erodes the mortar between the stone blocks.[1] Architects often used multiple gargoyles on buildings to divide the flow of rainwater off the roof to minimize the potential damage from a rainstorm. A trough is cut in the back of the gargoyle and rainwater typically exits through the open mouth.
Size: 5319px × 3639px
Location: Wimborne Minster Dorset England
Photo credit: © John Hopkins / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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