St George's Church

A church inspired by St Paul's Cathedral Vast and solitary, St George's is one of the most magnificent 18th-century churches in Dorset. It rises from the rocky, treeless and dramatic peninsula of Portland and is the masterwork of a local mason named Thomas Gilbert whose grandfather supplied the Portland stone used to build St Paul's Cathedral.

The interior is fabulously preserved with its lectern, pulpit, box pews and galleries all surviving. It is a 'preacher's church'; with all the seating facing the twin pulpits - one for reading 'the Word'; (scripture), the other for lengthy sermons.

The sprawling churchyard is a treasure trove of fabulous headstones and memorials that tell tales of murder, piracy and adventure in a gloriously atmospheric setting. There are inscriptions to Mary Way and William Lano, who were shot and killed in 1803 by a press gang, and Joseph Trevitt, an assistant warder at Portland Prison who was murdered by a convict in 1869. Originally consecrated in 1766, St George's was at one time the only parish church for the whole of the Isle of Portland. The organ in the west gallery was originally built by G M Holdich. St George's classical style, particularly of the elaborate belfry and steeple, suggests that that its designer Thomas Gilbert was familiar with the London churches of Wren and Hawksmoor, who were making use of the Portland stone quarried nearby. Inside the church, the galleries and box pews are arranged so that everyone faces the twin “hour glass” pulpits – situated where one would expect to find a chancel screen in a mediaeval church. St George's stands in a treeless churchyard of one-and-a-half acres, containing thousands of memorials to former Portland residents. A large building, about 112 feet long and 52 feet wide, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described St George’s as 'the most impressive 18th century church in Dorset'. The north and south galleries, supported on slender columns, are accessed via elegant, curving staircases.