Church of St Candida and Holy Cross, Whitchurch Canonicorum

The Church of St Candida and Holy Cross stands in Whitchurch Canonicorum, a small village in west Dorset’s Marshwood Vale. A Saxon church once occupied the site but no traces remain. The present building began in the 12th century when Benedictine monks rebuilt it. Further work followed in the 13th and 14th centuries, including the tower that now dominates the skyline. The church mixes Norman, Early English and Perpendicular styles. George Somers, founder of Bermuda, lies under the vestry, while Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is buried in the churchyard. The church is one of only two English parish churches with a shrine containing relics of its patron saint. These belong to St Candida, also known as St Wite, whose remains rest in a plain 13th-century limestone tomb. Pilgrims once came to place personal items or body parts against the shrine in hope of healing. The tomb survived the Reformation, perhaps because its plain design disguised its true purpose. When opened in 1900, it revealed a lead casket bearing the inscription “Here lie the remains of St Wite.” Inside, the church follows a cruciform plan with nave, aisles, transepts and a tall west tower. The nave and transepts show Early English work, while the tower belongs to the Perpendicular style. Carved stone panels high on the tower walls include a Viking ship and an adze. The south porch has grotesques at each corner, and the south doorway is Norman with dog-tooth and beak-head decoration. A two-handed cup carved on the south aisle wall is said to represent the Holy Grail. The chancel retains 14th-century roof bosses and 16th-century oak stalls with traceried panels.