Church of St Christopher is a Grade I listed building in the Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 9 February 1961. A C15 Church.

Church of St Christopher

WRENN ID
moated-wall-crow
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Somerset
Constituency
Wells and Mendip Hills MP: Tessa Munt (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
9 February 1961
Type
Church
Address
Church of St Christopher, Church Road, Lympsham
OS grid reference
ST 335 541
Coordinates
51.28273, -2.95462
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

The Church of St Christopher is a parish church dating primarily from the 15th century, with significant 19th-century restoration work carried out by the Reverend A J Stephenson and his son J H Stephenson. Constructed of coursed and squared rubble with slate and lead roofs, it features coped verges and cruciform finials. The church is built in the Perpendicular style, comprising a nave, chancel, a north aisle, a south chapel now used as a vestry, and a west tower.

The four-stage west tower has set-back buttresses, pinnacles, twin bell chamber windows, two tiers of niches to the west side, a west door, and a west window. It has a pierced and arcaded parapet as does the north aisle and south chapel. The nave and chancel also have 2-light windows. A panelled tower arch features at the base of the tower, with a small carved figure on each corbel. The nave has a wagon roof of the 19th century springing from corbels carved as heads, likely of Perpendicular design, with a lower entrance to the rood.

The north aisle, dating from around 1400, was restored in 1840. It contains an arcade with piers of a four-wave section, wall shafts on leaf corbels, a panelled lean-to roof, and a restored niche to the north wall, with a gabled and crocketted surround. An 11th-century stone Crucifix, obviously reused, is set on the East wall, along with a piscina under a foil arch and remains of a squint. The chancel, largely restored, has an early 19th-century turrel-vault plaster ceiling on corbels carved as heads, again probably Perpendicular. Numerous texts are stencilled in black letter around window openings, along walls, and around arches. A painted Norman tub font features a text, alongside a Jacobean cover. There is also a C17 painted royal arms. The church contains a chandelier from 1744, along with other furniture from the 19th century, including choir stalls, pews, a pulpit, a lectern, an altar rail, two gothic-style chairs, and a western gallery.

There are fifteen 19th-century wall monuments, some in brass; those dedicated to the Stephenson family are located in the vestry and boast a particularly elaborate style. A monument commemorating those lost in the Great War is also present. There is considerable 19th-century stained glass, including an east window by O’Connor of 1863, and five further stained glass windows. A 19th-century painting of Christ is also featured.

Local climate

Church of St Christopher receives an average of 820 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 53% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 72% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 23 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 76% of listed buildings. Of these, 8 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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