St George, Ruishton

St John the Baptist, Axbridge

St Andrew, Cheddar

All Saints, Nunney

The village of Nunney, just south west of Frome, is best known for its attractively moated castle, described by Pevsner as "aesthetically the most impressive castle in Somerset". The nearby church, approached from the castle via a footbridge over the Nunney Brook, contains the impressive tombs of some of the castle's owners.

The church itself (and the chancel in particular) dates from the 13th century, with transepts added in the mid-14th, the arcades slightly later, and the roof and tower in the late 15th or early 16th century. The church was heavily restored in 1874, when the aisles were extended west (they now flank the tower very symmetrically). Inside, the chancel walls are rather scraped, but the real interest lies in its furnishings.

Most impressive are the monuments of the families who owned the castle, grouped together in the north transept. Beneath the window lies Sir John de la Mare (d.1383), the castle's builder, his feet resting on a lion. Beneath him lie Sir John Paulet (d. 1436) and his wife Constance. Sir John's surcoat is decorated with the De la Mare lions and wears the Lancastrian collar of interlinked 'SS', over a tomb chest with shields within quatrefoils. Adjacent is the tomb of Richard Prater (1540-1580) and his wife, he in armour and both wearing ruff collars. The tomb chest has Ionic columns and more shields, only this time in rather florid cartouches. Prater bought the castle just three years before his death, in 1577.

The church also has a badly defaced 14th Century wall painting of St George on one of the north arcade piers: St George and his lance can easily be made out, but not much of the dragon. The background is decorated fleur-de-lis and the White Hart, symbol of Richard II. Nearby is the Norman font, decorated with a turban-like spiral, and a splendid conical font cover, dated 1684. The rather battered chancel screen is 15th Century, decorated with tracery, vine leaves, angels and family crests.

The church is now one of five in the parish of Postlebury, along with those of Wanstrow, Witham Friary, Cloford, and Marston Bigot. All Saints has a Holy Communion every Friday and on the third Sunday of the month, and on alternating second Sundays hosts "Soul Food", an informal evening service of worship.

All Saints, High Street, Nunney BA11 4LN

St Andrew, Wiveliscombe

St Andrew, Wiveliscombe, is initially a puzzle: windows with classic Perpendicular tracery, but a tall north porch that looks almost arts-and-crafts in its styling, and a tower which is clearly late Victorian. Inside, the feeling is more that of a large chapel, and gives away the fact the church was thoroughly rebuilt (and more than doubled in size) early in the 19th Century. 

The architect was Richard Carver, and the date 1829. But he reused some of the earlier windows, hence the confusing tracery. Both nave and aisles (the south has an outer aisle, now walled off with glass to form a cafe) are spacious, with arcades with four-centre arches, the nave filled with the original box pews of 1829. The aisles have largely been cleared of fixed seating, which lends a rather empty feel when the chairs are stacked (as they were, on my visit, all over the place). No date is known for the tower.

Carver's chancel was replaced in 1872 by a short polygonal apse by Giles & Gane, but the rose window - with Pevsner describes as "singularly uncongenial and unattractive" dates from 1915. It was a memorial to Lt Ralph Hancock DSO, and replaced a large oil painting of Jesus by the distinguished Totnes-born artist, travel writer and inventor, William Brockedon (1787-1854). 

The church contains an impressive monument to Humphrey Wyndham (d. 1622) and his wife, comprising their alabaster effigies beneath a classical wall monument. The south aisle has the 12th century octagonal font from the original church. Outside are the eroded remains of a mediaeval cross.

The church has weekly Sunday services, a cafe on Thursday mornings and periodic concerts and other events.

St Andrew, Church Street, Wiveliscombe TA4 2LR

St Michael, Milverton

Milverton's spacious and imposing church befits this charming village, with its handsome Georgian houses built from the local red sandstone.

The church sits on a grassy hillock in the centre of the village, between the two main thoroughfares. Like the rest of the village, it is in red sandstone, with golden Ham stone dressings. The base of the tower dates from the 13th century, otherwise the building is all of the 14th and 15th centuries, except for the 19th century south aisle.

The interior has a surprising sense of spaciousness, although Pevsner records that 'the octagonal arcade piers do not give it enough weight or character'. You may or may not agree, but the real treasure of the church is its large collection of early 16th Century pews, with carved fronts, backs and bench-ends. These include a wide range of subjects, including profile portraits of a couple said to be Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, although my favourites include a magnificently rigged ship, and a man downing a pint of ale, holding an even larger flagon! 

The later (20th Century) rood screen incorporates further mediaeval panels, one dated to 1540, so one assumes the bench ends may be of similar vintage. There is more contemporary carving in the choir stalls, depicting the 12 apostles, though these were probably recut in the 17th century. They quite overshadow the nearby Norman font, decorated with saltire crosses and cable mouldings.

The church is part of a larger benefice with regular services on the first, second and third Sundays of the month, and an active social life (details on Facebook). On our visit, we were warmly welcomed by one of the congregation, though sadly, despite her help, we were unable to locate the graves of my 18th and 19th Century ancestors who once worshipped here.

St Michael, St Michael's Hill, Milverton TA4 1LR

St Pancras, West Bagborough

West Bagborough is tucked under the south-west slopes of the Quantock Hills, and its church is a steep walk up from the village. (The Lord of the Manor had a rather less arduous walk - the handsome late-Georgian Bagborough House is immediately adjacent.)

The church dates from the late 14th and early 15th Century, and most of the details are therefore Perpendicular, including the robust and (for Somerset) rather plain tower. There is a nave arcade of three bays is later, the north aisle being added in 1872. The wagon roofs in the nave and chancel original, but one comes here for its furnishings: the 16th Century bench ends are a delight, many with almost Renaissance flourishes, and the west screen, font cover and rood were designed by Sir Ninian Comper in in 1922.

I have a soft spot for the church, since one branch of my family tree were baptised, married and buried here for at least 200 years. It is now in a united benefice with Bishop's Lydeard, and worship is in the Catholic style.

St Pancras, West Bagborough Road, West Bagborough TA4 3EG

Holy Cross, Mark

St Mary, Wedmore

St Cuthbert, Wells

St Bridget, Brean

St Mary, Berrow

St Michael, Brent Knoll

St Mary the Blessed Virgin, East Brent

St Barnabas, Queen Camel

St Michael, North Cadbury

St George, Beckington

The attractive village of Beckington is, according to Pevsner’s Buildings of England, ‘uncommonly rich in worth-while stone houses’. It also has an impressive church, tucked away along a short lane from the village crossroads.

The village has a substantial entry in the Domesday Book, although there is no mention of a church. But during the Norman period a substantial church was built, with the impressive tower that we see today. The chancel was rebuilt in the 13th century and the nave rebuilt, and much of the fabric renewed, in the 15th century.

On entering the churchyard, the tower impresses by both its size and the quality of decoration on its bell openings, with paired round-headed arches within a wider arch with zig-zag decoration and blank arcading either side. Inside the tower there is a Perpendicular fan vault. The rest of the interior is rather scraped, although whitewash has been applied to the bare stonework in the chancel. Apart from a Decorated window in the chancel, most of the internal detail, including the elegant but low arcades and the clerestory, are Perpendicular Gothic.

At the east end of the north aisle is some stone panelling and a niche, doubtless once flanking a side chapel altar. The church abounds in interesting corbels, mostly in the form of human heads, but the north aisle has two in the form of seated beasts (one clearly a sheep). The nave roof has an interesting Queen post roof, with cusped struts.

The church has some excellent fixtures and fittings. The chancel has two tombs dating from around 1370: the larger has a knight and lady in a recess, decorated on the outside with vigorous blank arcading. Adjacent is a similar effigy, this time of a lady, under a simpler arched recess. On the chancel floor, a pair of remarkably well preserved brasses depict John St Maur (d. 1485) and his wife. An early 16th Century brass in the south chapel to the Compton family was inaccessible on my visit.

A further brass on the south aisle wall commemorates Thomas Webb (d. 1585), a local cloth merchant. Above is a separate brass with his merchant’s mark. Above the south door that is a real rarity - the Royal Arms of Elizabeth I, dated 1574, carved in stone and brightly painted. The font beneath is octagonal, with a plain circular stem ringed by eight further shafts. The adjacent south chapel has an attractive Jacobean screen. Back to the north aisle, the wall monument to Samuel Daniel (1562-1619), the poet laureate who was a contemporary of Shakespeare, is an accomplished early example of the then new Classical style.

The church has a very active parish, hosting both traditional and modern family worship, and on my visit the walls were screened with lovely examples of the children’s art work.

St George, Church Street, Beckington, Frome, Somerset BA11 6TG

St Philip and St James, Norton St Philip

The village of Norton St Philip, just south of Bath, is probably best known for its mediaeval George Inn, and its associations with the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685. But it has a charming mediaeval church with much to interest the visitor.

History

Although the village is mentioned in Domesday, the first reference to the church is in 1292, and the list if priests begins (unbroken to the present day) in 1331. Most of the existing church belongs to the 14th and 15th centuries. It was, however, much altered in the 17th century by a local man, Jeffrey Flower (d. 1644), and heavily restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1847, so dating much of it is difficult – not helped by the fact that Flower is said to have brought ‘odds and ends’ from Hinton Priory.

The oldest parts are the south porch and south aisle which, with the south nave arcade, date from the late 13th or early 14th century. Most of the rest of the church is 15th or 16th Century Perpendicular, although the tower is said to have been altered to the designs of Jeffrey Flower and the north aisle probably dates from the 17th century.

The church

The most striking external feature is the tower, which is broadly of the local Somerset design, but with an unorthodox arrangement of niches, windows and bell openings. It has a west doorway with a shallow porch (said to be one of Flower’s additions) with niches inside and out, and a ribbed roof supported on two large beasts. The south porch has 13th century features and a nice later wagon roof with carvings, and two doors with a staircase on the east wall, indicating that at one time it had an upper room.

Inside, the south arcade has square piers and is of early 14th century style: the north arcade has two panelled arches flanking a central arch with odd responds – possibly part of the 17th Century work. There is a tall and imposing Perpendicular west tower arch, but the tower vault is ascribed to the 17th Century. The nave’s magnificent (but Victorian) hammer-beam roof has large carved angels on the ends of each beam. The chancel arch and windows are all Perpendicular. Part of the north aisle has been tastefully developed to provide a modern meeting area in glass, wood and steel.

Fittings include a wonderful effigy of a civilian dated c. 1460, and thought to be that of a lawyer; a Perpendicular font; simple stone sedilia in the chancel; three surviving screens; some mediaeval glass fragments in the top lights of the north aisle windows; and a Royal coat of arms of Charles II. In the tower are two ancient stone heads, and beneath an inscription based on Pepys’ diaries of 1668 referring to the ‘Fair Maids of Foscott’.

The church is clearly well loved: on my visit it was bedecked with flowers in almost every corner.

St Philip & St James, Church Street, Norton St. Philip, Bath BA2 7LT

St Mary the Virgin, Bruton

The picturesque village of Bruton has a magnificent late mediaeval church, with an impressive ‘Somerset type’ tower and an unusual Georgian chancel.

History

There has been a church on the site since Saxon times, replaced by a stone curch in the mediaeval period. This parish church was replaced with a mediaeval stone church, and the crypt and the tower over the north porch date from around 1350. In the mid-15th century a comprehensive rebuilding scheme was begun, beginning with the impressive west tower, which was built 1449-56. The nave was rebuilt a little later, and given a tall clerestory as well as being extended eastwards.

The chancel was rebuilt by Sir Charles Berkeley in 1743 and provides a bright but sympathetic contrast to the mediaeval church. The registers record visits by both Charles I and Charles II.

The church

The west tower is a tour de force, particularly on the path leading up from the town. Of the ‘Wells’ group of towers, which have a strong vertical emphasis, the arrangement of the west window, niches and bell openings delivers a particularly attractive composition.

Inside, the nave has an elegant arcade of Perpendicular arches, with a particularly tall clerestory rising to a magnificent wooden king-post roof, richly decorated with angels, tracery and bosses. The interior is sadly scraped of its plaster and therefore rather gloomy, but details such as stairs to long-vanished roods provide interest. The chancel is a complete contrast; whitewashed throughout with gilded ribs and corbels decorated with cherubs, there is a large classical reredos in place of an east window.

The church has almost an embarrassment of riches in its fittings: Pews with Jacobean bench ends and a Jacobean pulpit; a richly-carved Jacobean west screen dated 1620; 16th and 17th century heraldic glass in the apex of the chancel windows; a fine west window by Clayton and Bell; the colourfully panted Royal Arms of Charles II in the north aisle; the finely preserved tomb chest of Sir Maurice Berkeley (d. 1581) in the chapel, his armoured effigy flanked by his two wives (d. 1559 and 1585) and, opposite, the notable bronze memorial bust of William Godolphin (d. 1636), attributed to Le Seuer (sculptor of the mounted statue of Charles I in Trafalgar Square).

The church has a busy parish life as well as serving the schools of Kings School and Sexey’s Church of England school, and strong links with parish of Bruton in Williamsburg, Virginia.

St Mary the Virgin, The Plox, Bruton, Somerset BA10 0QL

Christ Church, Frome

Christ Church lies just a short walk south west of the town's mediaeval parish church of St John the Baptist, set attractively in the centre of an extensive churchyard on Christchurch Street West.

History

The church was built largely to provide additional capacity at a time when the St John's was no longer large enough to cater for its congregation, and particularly to provide more free pews (as opposed to those which were rented, as was the custom at the time).

The church is an early and rather heavy essay in neo-Gothic, built in 1817-18 to designs by the local architect George Allen Underwood (1793-1829). It was much altered subsequently, most notably with new window tracery by Manners & Gill around the 1840s onwards, supposedly based on those of the church at Yatton, near Weston-super-Mare. The churchyard was originally shared with St John's, but is closed for burials. It has a fine long stone wall on Christchurch Street - which, alas, has lost its railings.

The church

The style is broadly Neo-Gothic (Perpendicular) and cruciform in plan, with a tall clerestory, low crossing tower and substantial aisles to the nave. An unusual feature is that the altar is under the crossing, with a later projecting Lady Chapel (now the Sacristy) added in 1929.

Furnishings are decent Victorian work, including a substantial carved reredos and a later Rood erected in 1910, and some brightly coloured stained glass. The church has had an Anglo-catholic tradition since the mid 1850s, and provides for a friendly welcome.

8 Christchurch Street West, Frome, Somerset BA11 1EH