Church of St Michael is a Grade II* listed building in the Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 4 February 1958. Church.

Church of St Michael

WRENN ID
hollow-niche-pigeon
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Somerset
Constituency
Yeovil MP: Adam Dance (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
4 February 1958
Type
Church
Address
Church of St Michael, Park Lane, Wayford, South Somerset
OS grid reference
ST 404 066
Coordinates
50.85632, -2.84698
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Michael is an Anglican parish church with origins dating back to the 13th century, undergoing significant remodelling in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, commissioned by Ingham Baker, then Lord of the Manor. The church is constructed of local stone with roughcast rendering, with dressings of Ham stone ashlar. It has Welsh slate roofs behind stepped, coped gables, with a plain parapet featuring moulded coping on the north side. A timber-clad west bell turret, sheathed in cedar shingles, sits against the west front.

The church follows a three-cell plan, comprising a single-bay chancel, a three-bay nave, and a north aisle. A north-east corner vestry and a south porch also feature. The chancel has a plinth and slim corner pilasters; its east window is a 3-light 'Y'-tracery window with a pointed-arched label dating back to the 18th century. A single lancet window is situated in the south wall. The vestry has a single lancet window in the east wall, possibly a reused element. The north aisle has three single lancets, a segmental-arched doorway in the north wall, and a lancet window to the west. The nave has a single lancet towards the west end of the south wall, and a 2-light, chamfer-mullioned window set within a chamfered recess. A matching 2-light window, positioned high under the eaves towards the west end, was likely intended for a gallery and is now blocked. The west gable contains a pair of lancet windows.

The south porch, added in the 18th century, has a plain, coped gable with a stone-tiled roof and a finial. It incorporates a chamfered triangular arched outer doorway and bench seating. The inner doorway is moulded and segmental-pointed.

Inside, the chancel and nave have 18th-century boarded roofs with double-collar trusses. The chancel is simple, with no archway into the nave. A partly-restored 14th-century double piscina is located in the south wall, and the adjacent lancet has a trefoil rere-arch – a feature also present in the lancet on the south wall of the nave. The nave is separated from the north aisle by a timber arcade composed of square-section posts with slightly-arched braces to the wall-plate beam; the aisle ceiling is boarded and leans against the main structure. Historic fittings include fragments of 17th and 18th-century timber panelling in the chancel, an 18th-century altar table, early 19th-century nave box pews, and a small, probably 18th-century, hexagonal pulpit in the north aisle. An octagonal font of uncertain date, perhaps 14th century, is also present, along with boards displaying the Creed and Lord's Prayer, dated 1795, and a Georgian hatchment on the north wall. Marble wall tablets commemorate Azariah Pinney (died 1760), John Frederick Pinney (died 1762), and Elizabeth Pinney (died 1812), former owners of the manor house, situated in the chancel and on the nave’s south wall. Two 18th-century bells are housed in the turret. The chancel collapsed in 1846, and the east wall and vestry were damaged by fire in 1895, necessitating a major restoration in 1902. The church was first mentioned in 1266.

Local climate

Church of St Michael receives an average of 800 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 54% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 66% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 29 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 67% of listed buildings. Of these, 11 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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  2. Wayford War Memorial Grade II 19 m
  3. Wayford Manor House Grade I 34 m
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  5. Clapton Bridge Grade II 906 m
  6. Mill House and Attached Railings Grade II 915 m
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