Group of 4 Monuments in Churchyard, North of Tower, Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Grade II listed building in the Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 27 October 1987. Monuments.

Group of 4 Monuments in Churchyard, North of Tower, Church of St Mary the Virgin

WRENN ID
sombre-chapel-azure
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Somerset
Constituency
Glastonbury and Somerton MP: Sarah Dyke (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
27 October 1987
Type
Monuments
Address
Group of 4 Monuments in Churchyard, North of Tower, Church of St Mary the Virgin, Stoke Sub Hamdon
OS grid reference
ST 484 172
Coordinates
50.95276, -2.73596
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

The group of four monuments in the churchyard, located north of the tower of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, consists of chest tombs from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The first monument, an unidentified chest tomb from the later 17th century, is made of Ham stone ashlar and features a moulded base. It has panels with wave-mould borders, one on each end and two on each side, and a very thick flat top with simple cavetto coving. The inscriptions have been lost.

The second monument is the Clarke monument, an earlier 18th-century chest tomb, also made of Ham stone ashlar. It has a moulded base and a main body with panels framed by egg and dart moulding. The ends and short returns display a bold baluster profile without a frieze, topped with a cornice-mould that has a hipped upper surface and rounded leading edges. This tomb commemorates John Clarke, who died in 1728.

The third monument is the Prankard monument, another chest tomb from the earlier 18th century, constructed of Ham stone ashlar with lias stone panels. The base is buried, and it features bolection mould panels on each flank and at each semi-circular end, without a frieze. It has a deep coved moulding on a shaped hipped top with rounded leading edges, commemorating Thomas Prankard, who died in 1729, and others.

The fourth monument, the Chaffey monument, dates from the 17th century and is made of Ham stone ashlar. It has a moulded base with panels featuring ovolo moulding, one on each end and two on each side, which are separated and flanked by carved panel pilasters adorned with strapwork ornament. It has a cable-mould frieze and cyma-recta coving leading to a heavy flat top. This tomb commemorates John Chaffey, who died in 1670.

Local climate

Group of 4 Monuments in Churchyard, North of Tower, Church of St Mary the Virgin receives an average of 830 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 60% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 63% 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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