St Barnabas, Ranmore

This church was designed and built by Sir George Gilbert Scott, consecrated in 1859, for George Cubitt, son of Thomas the builder and a friend of Scott’s. It was intended for people employed on the family’s estate at Denbies. The builder was George Dines and with the exterior entirely faced in rounded flint cobbles and a prominent spire on an octagon, it was criticised by Betjeman as having no regard for the local style and for being a rich man’s church. The interior is similarly grand with a red Cornish serpentine font on a granite plinth. Along with the church, Sir George Gilbert Scott completed an asymmetrical three storey vicarage with a stone porch and a similar school, with fees for the church and school rendered in 1874 of £50.