Church of St Philip and St James is a Grade II* listed building in the Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 11 March 1968. A Medieval Church.

Church of St Philip and St James

WRENN ID
lesser-casement-khaki
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Somerset
Constituency
Frome and East Somerset MP: Anna Sabine (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
11 March 1968
Type
Church
Period
Medieval
Address
Church of St Philip and St James, Vicarage Lane, Norton St. Philip
OS grid reference
ST 772 557
Coordinates
51.30019, -2.32817
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

The Church of St. Philip and St. James is a church dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. A north aisle was likely added in the 17th century and extensively restored in 1847 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The church is constructed of coursed rubble Doulting stone, with dressed stone upper sections probably dating to the 19th century, and has stone slate roofs with coped gables, finials, and crosses. The church incorporates a west tower, a south porch, north and south aisles and chapels, and a chancel. The architectural style is generally Perpendicular, characterized as unorthodox and eccentric.

The west tower has three stages, an embattled parapet, and pinnacles. A stair turret is located on the south-east corner. A quasi-porch, said to be from the dismantled Hinton Priory, is situated across the buttresses on the west face, featuring a 4-centered moulded pointed arch with niches on either side and a doorway. A 3-light west window with cusped heads sits beneath a pointed arch with stopped dripmoulds. Above this are rows of niches with cusped heads, followed by three small, blocked windows and a pointed, moulded arch with stopped dripmould. Similar arrangements exist on the north and south sides of the tower. The south porch, dating to the 14th century, has a 2-centered depressed single chamfered arch with carved stone heads, access to a spiral stair, and a waggon roof with carved bases.

The nave, north and south aisles have three bays, corner buttresses, and Perpendicular 3-light windows with stopped dripmoulds. Inside, the south arcade features square piers with demi-shafts and fillets, and arches with convex-quadrant mouldings. The third bay is wider. The north arcade's bays 1 and 3 have panelled piers and arches, while bay 2 is from the 17th century and built from reused components, possibly from Hinton Priory. A Perpendicular tower arch leads to a tierceron vaulted ceiling. Arches also lead to the chancel and chancel chapels. The nave has a 19th-century hammer beam trussed roof with carved figures of angels, while wagon roofs with ornamental bosses cover the north and south aisles. Stained glass is from the 19th century. North and south chancel windows were created by T. K. Wallis, and the east window by Christopher Webb. Above the south door is a 17th-century wood hatchment initialed CR and dated 1660. The octagonal font has Perpendicular quatrefoils and shields. 19th-century wrought iron gates from 1890 screen the chancel, along with screens to the north and south aisles and the tower arch, erected in 1886. Additional features include stone clergy stalls, marble revedos, and an altar. A chest tomb from around 1460 is located against the south wall of the south aisle and includes quatrefoils and an effigy of a merchant. At the west end of the nave are tablets listing names and dates of monumental slabs moved during 19th-century reconstruction, a bequest by Rachel Coles in 1770, and memorials for Elton and Fripp (1808), the Fair Maids of Foscott, and a visit by Samuel Pepys in 1668, alongside details of 18th-century Rundell family members.

Local climate

Church of St Philip and St James receives an average of 870 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 63% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 68% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 53% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 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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