Roman Catholic Church And Presbytery Of St Luke And St Teresa

The Roman Catholic Church and Presbytery of St Luke and St Teresa, built in 1881 by Canon A.J.C. Scoles, is located in Wincanton on South Street. This structure features stone rubble with freestone dressings and a rock-faced west front with towers. The steeply-pitched roofs are made of Bridgwater clay tiles, supported by small stone corbels under the eaves.

The church has a nave with an entrance under a west gallery situated between twin west towers. There are north and south aisles with chapels at the east ends, a chancel with a chapter house behind the reredos, and a cloister on the south side that leads to the chapter house and priory at the east end. The architectural style is Early English.

The exterior showcases a gabled west front with a cusped rose window and a statue niche in the gable above. Below, there are tall 5-light lancets over the portal, which features a double order of shafts, a deeply moulded arch, and a carved tympanum displaying the Carmelite arms. The flanking towers have 1-, 2-, and 3-light lancets and embattled parapets, with a flight of steps leading to the west doorway. The north and south sides have 2-light clerestorey lancets that continue around the chancel apse. The chapel on the south side of the chancel has a gable-ended roof with apex crosses above the south aisle, cinquefoil clerestorey windows, and a stone bell-cote over the south cloister topped with a wrought-iron cross. The vestry gables to the southeast also feature similar cinquefoil windows. The south cloister includes 2-light square-headed windows.

Inside, the church has plastered walls and wagon roofs. The 4-bay arcades consist of double-chamfered 2-centred arches supported by octagonal piers with moulded capitals. The tall chancel arch and the chancel chapel's 2-bay arcades are similarly designed with compound piers. Notable interior features include a carved stone reredos with a chapter house behind it, an altar with a mosaic front, a marble arcaded Communion rail, a carved wooden pulpit with a canopy, intricately designed wooden chapel and aisle altars, and a Crucifix hanging from the chancel arch. There is also a gallery at the west end, seating, and stained glass.

The Roman Catholic Church of St Luke and St Teresa is a well-preserved and complete example of the architectural work of Canon A.J.C. Scoles.