Dorset dog walker saves church from fire: The Church of England Newspaper, April 8, 2011 p 3.

Firemen inspecting the roof of St Mary's Maiden Newtown after the March 30 blaze

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

An early morning stroll saved a 12^th century Dorset church from destruction last week, when a dog-walker saw smoke rising from St Mary’s Church in Maiden Newton and called for help.

While out walking his spaniel, Alex Adair-Charlton (39) of Maiden Newton saw a cloud of smoke or mist hovering above the village’s medieval church.  His curiosity turned to alarm, however, when he saw flames rising from the church’s roof, and he telephoned the fire services from his mobile phone.

A team from the village fire service arrived within four minutes of the 6:20 am alarm, and by the end of the day approximately 30 firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze. An aerial platform was brought in to fight the blaze, so as not to damage the church’s wooden doors, believed to be among the oldest in England.

In a letter to his congregation, the Team Rector of Melbury, the Rev. Graham Perryman stated it was “almost certain” the fire had been “caused by an electrical fault.”

The “obvious damage sustained consists of a hole in the roof about a metre square, damage to the roof felting under a larger area of the roof, fire damage to some of the roof timbers, the destruction of the electrical cabling and meters in the chancel, blistering and damage to the lime render/skim on the walls of the chancel, and some minor water damage,” he said..

However, the “most significant damage has been caused by smoke,” Mr. Perryman said, adding “Truly, ‘the smoke filled the temple’,” a reference to Isaiah 6.4.

“Everything will have to be cleaned, or discarded and replaced, from hymnbooks to monuments,” he noted with an “estimate of the cost to put things right is about £250,000.”

The church was “saddened and shocked, but in good spirit, and looking forward,” Mr. Perryman said.

“We are blessed with fully committed churchwardens, a dedicated and gifted DCC, and a flexible and enthusiastic congregation. We are convinced that ‘All things work together for good’ (Rom 8.28). We give thanks to God for the swiftness of the response to the fire, for the efficiency and care of Ecclesiastical Insurances, who have been superb, for the prompt attention and attendance of the Bishop, Archdeacon and architect, and the overwhelming offers of support and sympathy from the community and other churches,” the vicar said.

St Mary’s Maiden Newton is no stranger to misfortune.  In 2009 a burglar stole the church’s Elizabethan altar plate, making off with silver chalices, servers and a flagon.

Mr. Perryman told The Church of England Newspaper only one item has been recovered so far, a silver plated flagon.  The stolen flagon was “discovered by a dog in a rabbit hole near Chard about 9 months ago. The theft was covered by insurance , and we bought the flagon back from [EIG], as it had the name of the church engraved on it.”