Church Of St Mary

ST 55 NE WEST HARPTREE BATH ROAD (north side)

5/100 Church of St. Mary 21.9.60 G.V. II*

Anglican parish church. C12 west tower, C13 spire, C15 main body extensively restored in 1865 by C.E. Giles of Taunton who added a new chancel. Random rubble to tower and nave, squared and coursed sandstone to aisle and chancel, freestone dressings, copings and quoins, ashlar parapets. Copper cladding to spire, double Roman tile roofs. Nave, chancel, west tower, south aisle, south porch, north vestry. Nave north wall has segmental headed C12 doorway with nook shafts and cushion capitals and a 3-light east window of intersecting tracery and further single cusped lights on north and south walls. Single stage tower with clasping pilaster buttresses and plain square headed bell openings. Narrow slits of almost military form to north and south faces, C19 pointed arched doorway to west facade. String-course below bell openings and plain corbels to spire eaves. Tall broach spire. South aisle has one 3-light Perpendicular window under flat head, one 4-light traceried window under pointed head and a further, similar, Perpendicular window of 3 lights. Perpendicular east window also of 3 lights. Gabled south porch with triple chamfered pointed arched doorway, moulded eaves and plain parapet. Stone benches on side walls inside, stairs to left hand to former parvise which was lit by window on east wall. Triple chamfered Tudor arched doorway with C19 2-leaf plank doors. Interior. Nave has a 3-bay Perpendicular arcade giving onto south aisle with octagonal piers and moulded arches. Some fine C15 corbel heads to C19 wagon roof. South aisle has a trefoil headed piscina at south east corner and a lean-to C19 rafter roof. Tripartite C19 chancel arch, wagon roof to chancel. Fittings. Nave has C19 font, pulpit and brass eagle lectern. Chancel has 1890s stained glass in all 3 windows. (Pevsner, The Buildings of England : North Somerset and Bristol, 1958).

Listing NGR: ST5603056895