Church of the Holy Ghost

This list entry was subjected to a Minor Enhancement to update the text on the 22 September 2021 ST 6654 4/6

Midsomer Norton HIGH STREET (north side) Church of the Holy Ghost

(Formerly listed as Roman Catholic Church)

19.5.50

GV II*

A Roman Catholic Church of probable C15 date, formerly a tithe barn which was restored and converted by Giles Gilbert Scott in 1907-13.

MATERIALS: constructed of red sandstone rubble with limestone dressings and buttresses. It has an old pantile roof with coped verges.

EXTERIOR: of six bays divided by two-stage, weathered buttresses. The third bay from the left (north) has a projecting gabled porch with a Grangers' room over and a wide three-centred elliptical archway (rebuilt) with a chamfered moulding.

There is a two-light window above the archway in the Perpendicular style with a square head, single transoms, original head tracery and a replaced rectangular drip-mould.

The front elevation of the porch is faced with limestone ashlar. The right-hand side wall has a pointed-arch, chamfered doorway and modern exterior wooden steps with a four-centred arch doorway leading to the room over. The wide inner doorway of the porch has been blocked and is pierced by a modern Gothic doorway with an ogee hood mould, the original iron door staples remain.

The corresponding doorway in the rear elevation (north-east) has also been blocked and retains the original oak lintel and iron door staples.

Between each buttress is a single loop window and there are three similar loops in the left-hand end (northern) gable. The right-hand end (southern) gable has two modern square headed Perpendicular windows and three buttresses.

There are stone cross finials on the end gables and the porch gable.

INTERIOR: the interior of the church has an open timber roof with arch braces and collar beams, and two purlins with curved wind-braces between. The loop windows have wide internal splays. The Grangers' room has an upper cruck truss and enriched wall plates (concealed).

HISTORY: this building had originally been a tithe barn, part of a grange for the Augustinian Priors based in Merton Priory, Surrey. It was converted into a Roman Catholic Church in 1907-13 by Giles Gilbert Scott as a mission of Downside Abbey. The church has a gilt tabernacle dating to 1794 from the Bavarian Embassy Chapel, Warwick Street, Soho.

References: The Buildings of England: Pevsner N and Foyle A: North Somerset and Bristol: London: 2011-: 559.

Listing NGR: ST6636554234