Wessex Attractions: St Catherine’s Chapel

St Catherine’s is a 14th century chapel in Abbotsbury, Dorset. It was popularly believed up until the late 19th century that invoking St Catherine in prayer would help young women to find a husband. The south doorway contains three “wishing holes”. Local women in the area would place a knee in one and a hand in each of the other two, and offer up a prayer to the saint. One can only assume that Dorset’s isolated nature kept it safe from Protestant strictures against “popish superstition” so long after the English reformation.

The chapel is now managed by English Heritage, though church services are still held there a few times a year. It is free to visit. The satnav postcode is DT3 4JH, and it is served by buses 253, X53 and (on Wednesdays) 61.

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