Poole - Religious Sites

Religious Sites

Poole falls within the Church of England Diocese of Salisbury and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth. Poole has many sites of Christian worship including five Grade II* and five Grade II listed churches, but no notable sites of worship for any other major religious groups. The Grade II* St James' Church is a simplified Gothic Revival style Church of England parish church in the Old Town which was rebuilt in 1820. The previous church on the site was first mentioned in documents from 1142 and had been extensively rebuilt in the 16th century, but in 1819 it was deemed structurally unsafe by a surveyors report. The United Reformed Church hall, also in the town centre, is a Grade II* building built in 1777. The other Grade II* churches are: St. Peters Parish Church in Parkstone which was first built in 1833 and replaced in 1876; St. Osmunds Church, also in Parkstone, is a Byzantine style building, formerly an Anglican church it became a Romanian Orthodox Church in 2005; and the Parish Church of St. Aldhelm in Branksome, built by the architects Bodley and Garner in 1892 in the Gothic Revival style. Described by English Heritage as "one of Poole's most important landmarks", the Gothic Revival church of St Mary's in Longfleet, built in 1833, is one of Poole's Grade II listed churches.