Parish Church Of St Michael

The parish church of St Michael, Over Compton, largely dates to the 15th century, with significant additions and alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries. A north chapel was added in 1776 by Robert Goodden, who also undertook an extensive restoration of the church between 1821 and 1822, incorporating a north vestry and baptistery. The chancel was further restored in 1877.

The church is constructed of ashlar stone with clay-tile roofs to the nave, and a stone slate roof to the chancel. The rebuilt nave has 15th-century windows of three cinquefoiled lights with square heads, each featuring a label with returned stops; the eastern window of the south wall has head-stops. The west tower, also of the early 15th century, is of three stages with an embattled parapet, pinnacles, and gargoyles. The west doorway has moulded jambs and a four-centred arch within a square head, also with a label and head-stops depicting a king and bishop. The west window contains three cinquefoiled ogee lights with vertical tracery set within a pointed arch, incorporating moulded reveals and a label. The bell-chamber has windows featuring two cinquefoiled lights with a quatrefoil within a two-centred head, set within a label. The chancel was rebuilt in the 19th century, constructed of dressed stone with substantial buttresses and set-offs, and is topped with a stone slate roof, gable-coping and a cross at the apex. The east window comprises three lights with trefoil-cusped heads and panel tracery, with a returned label, while the south doorway has moulded jambs and a pointed head with a label, leading to a plank-and-muntin door. The north chapel has roughcast walls and a clay-tiled roof with coped gables, with buttresses on the east side. The north windows feature three lights with cinquefoil ogival cusping and panel tracery, substantial casement moulding, and separate labels. The north vestry, added in the 19th century, has a pointed north doorway and a plank-and-muntin door. The south chapel also has roughcast walls and a tile roof with stone coping, incorporating a two-light window with trefoil-cusped and quatrefoil decoration in the head.

The interior features roofs with compartmented barrel-vaults, carved call bosses at the intersections, and stone angel corbels dating back to the 15th century. The font has an octagonal bowl with quatrefoil panels and initials and the date N.B.C.W. 1620 inscribed on the rim. A hexagonal pulpit with moulded framing, an enriched cornice, and panelled sides, as well as a 17th-century reader's pew are also present. The north chapel holds monuments to the Goodden family, notably a white marble standing figure of Robert Goodden (1828), potentially by Flaxman, and a black-and-white marble wall monument to Robert Goodden (1764) and his wife Abigail (erected in 1777). Numerous monuments to the Goodden and Bicknell families are also found in the north and south chapels (baptistery). Five hatchments are displayed in the north chapel and nave. A 17th-century communion table features turned legs and enriched top rails.