Church Of St Mary Magdalene

The Church of St Mary Magdalene is a Grade I listed building located on Magdalene Street. This large church features a significant west tower that enhances the view down Hammet Street and holds great group value with nearby structures. Most of the church dates from the late 15th century and has undergone extensive restoration. It includes an aisled chancel, partly with a clerestorey, and a six-bay nave with four aisles and a clerestorey.

Notable features include a fine vaulted south porch built in 1508, which has niches above the entrance. The west tower, which stands over 160 feet high, is considered the finest in Somerset. Although it is dated by wills to between 1488 and 1514, it was completely rebuilt in a replica style from 1858 to 1862 by Sir George Gilbert Scott and Benjamin Ferrey. The tower consists of three storeys above the large west window, featuring paired openings, set-back buttresses, pinnacles, and string courses. It is topped with openwork battlements and tall openwork corner pinnacles.

Inside, the low nave boasts an impressive tie-beam roof adorned with carved angels, bosses, and peterae that have recently been regilded. There are tabernacled niches with Victorian statuary between the clerestorey windows, and a large image niche in the north arcade. The fan vault under the tower is another highlight. Due to numerous restorations, there are few original furnishings remaining.

Among the notable monuments is a memorial to Robert Gray, who died in 1635, featuring a standing figure in the north aisle, and a large freestone slab from the tomb of Thomas More, who died in 1576, located in the inner south aisle. Fragments of medieval glass can be found in the clerestorey. The Church of St Mary Magdalene and the listed buildings in Church Square and Hammet Street form an extremely important group.