St Mary the Virgin, Lytchett Matravers
St Mary the Virgin is the Church of England parish church of Lytchett Matravers in Dorset. Its parish is part of the Diocese of Salisbury. The building is Grade I listed. History Foundation There is no known record of the date of the foundation of the church at Lytchett Matravers. The Domesday Book records that by 1086 Sir John Maltravers held the manor of Lytchett Matravers. The John Matravers who was buried in the church was Edward II's gaoler and possibly his murderer. In the churchyard, just outside the north door, is a yew tree that in the 1980s was dated to be at least 1,700 years old. Its location here next to the church suggests the spot has been a holy place since before the current church was built. A Sir Walter Maltravers went on a Crusade to the Holy Land and it is possible that he ordered the church to be built beside the manor house in his absence about the year 1200. The west tower, the nave and the chancel were built then, followed by the north aisle in the 14th century. Sir John Maltravers’ heir, his granddaughter Eleanor, carried the manor and title to her husband