---
title: "St Michael, Over Compton"
description: "Located in Over Compton, Dorset. Built Nave rebuilt C15; west tower early C15; north chapel 1776; restored 1821–22; chancel restored 1877. Diocese of Salisbury. Grade I. Perpendicular style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of England","Dorset","Over Compton","Grade I","Perpendicular","Michael"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/st-michael-over-compton"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T02:26:55.116Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-08T18:58:32.067Z"
location: "Over Compton, Dorset"
country: "England"
county: "Dorset"
town: "Over Compton"
address: "Compton Park, Over Compton, Dorset, DT9 4QU"
postcode: "DT9 4QU"
built: "Nave rebuilt C15; west tower early C15; north chapel 1776; restored 1821–22; chancel restored 1877"
architect: "Robert Goodden (1776 chapel and 1821–22 restoration)"
denomination: "Church of England"
dedications: ["Michael"]
diocese: "Salisbury"
grade: "I"
style: "Perpendicular"
materials: "Ashlar stone walls; clay-tile nave roof and stone-slate chancel roof"
website: "http://queenthornechurches.co.uk/over-compton/"
openingHours: "Sorry, there are no regular opening times for this church."
parish: "Over Compton"
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1119361"
gridReference: "ST 594 168"
accessNotes: "Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby"
---

# St Michael, Over Compton

St Michael's is a Grade I parish church in Compton Park, Over Compton, Dorset, standing east of the village beside Compton House.

## Overview

Historic England records a parish church whose nave was rebuilt in the fifteenth century, with an early-fifteenth-century west tower. Robert Goodden added the north chapel (the Goodden pew) in 1776 and extensively restored the church in 1821–22, adding the north vestry and baptistery. The chancel was extensively restored in 1877. The walls are ashlar; the nave has a clay-tile roof and the chancel a stone-slate roof. The three-stage west tower has an embattled parapet, pinnacles and gargoyles. Nave windows are fifteenth-century, of three cinquefoiled lights in square heads. Interior roofs have compartmented barrel-vaults with carved bosses and stone angel corbels of the fifteenth century.

The Royal Commission inventory notes walls of local rubble, part ashlar-faced, and places the church as the principal monument of the parish. The Queen Thorne churches site serves Over Compton with neighbouring parishes. The listing and RCHME both credit Goodden's early-nineteenth-century campaign as the main reconstruction after the medieval tower and nave windows.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1119361](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1119361)
- [RCHME Dorset: Over Compton](https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol1/pp102-104)
- [Queen Thorne churches: Over Compton](http://queenthornechurches.co.uk/over-compton/)