Church Of St George

Church of St George

Anglican parish church including the Poulett mausoleum, located on Church Street. The building contains some 13th-century work executed by masons from Wells Cathedral, with substantial 15th and early 16th-century phases. The vestry and north chapel date to 1814 and are attributed to James Wyatt, though as Wyatt died in 1813, this work was probably executed by his pupil Jeffry Wyatt, who later became Sir Jeffry Wyattville. Further alterations and additions were made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The church is constructed in ham stone ashlar and near-ashlar with a Cornish slate roof to the chancel and north chapel; the remaining roofs are covered in copper sheet (scheduled for replacement with stainless steel in 1987), all set behind parapets. The building comprises five cells: a two-bay chancel, three-and-a-half-bay nave, four-bay south aisle, north chapel with vestry, together with a south porch and west tower.

The chancel features a plinth, cill offset to the east wall, string course and plain parapets with offset corner buttresses. The east window is a five-light opening in a hollowed pointed-arched recess, a 19th-century replacement for an earlier three-light window; a matching two-light window occupies the south wall. The south aisle is similarly detailed but includes bay buttresses; it has a five-light east window, a four-light four-centre-arched south-east window, and a two-light window. West of the porch, the parapet becomes battlemented with corner gargoyles to the string; a three-light window in the south wall retains 15th-century tracery in a hollowed recess, as does a corresponding window in the west wall.

The south porch has a high moulded plinth, battlemented parapets and offset corner buttresses. The outer arch is of 15th-century date with a canopied statue niche above. The roof is stone-ribbed and traceried panel vaulted, with bench seats and a moulded inner doorway possibly retaining a 15th-century door.

The visible north bay of the nave contains a three-light 19th-century window in a recess. The north chapel and vestry have chamfered plinths, angled corner and bay buttresses, and plain parapets arranged over three bays with the centre gabled. A three-light flat-arched north-east window and a four-light window in 15th-century style beneath the gable light these spaces. A doorway to the west, approached by five steps, bears the Poulett arms and a plaque. On the west side is an entrance to the Poulett vault, surrounded by wrought-iron railings, with the vestry entrance to the east.

The tower dates to 1485–95 and comprises four stages. It has full-height offset corner buttresses, strings and battlemented parapets with quatrefoil panels below the merlons, corner and intermediate pinnacles, and a weathervane of 1756 by Thomas Bagley of Bridgwater. The south-east corner is distinguished by a taller hexagonal stair turret. The west door is almost triangular-arched with carved spandrels and a square label above. The west window is four-light with a pointed segmental arch. The second stage has a small light on the north face and a statue niche to the south. The two upper stages on all faces are lit by two-light mullioned and transomed windows with tracery, set beneath pointed arched labels and flanked by pierced stone baffles. A clockface is set beneath the east window.

Inside, the chancel is predominantly of 19th and 20th-century date but retains a wide 16th-century chancel arch and panelled arches to the south aisle and vestry. The nave and aisle ceilings are mostly 19th and 20th-century works, though earlier fragments survive. A 15th-century shaft and hollow arcade and a panelled tower arch are visible. Almost all fittings date to the 19th and 20th centuries. The 13th-century font bowl was decorated in the 15th century. An organ gallery incorporates a Coade stone hatchment of George III dated 1812. A detailed model of the church in its pre-restoration state, dated 1844, is preserved in a 19th-century case.

The north chapel functions as the Poulett family pew and contains numerous fine monuments. Outside the pew stands the effigy of a 15th-century knight, and a late 15th-century brass near the pulpit commemorates John and Alicia Chudderlee. The Poulett monuments include reused chest tombs to Sir Amyas (died 1537) and Sir Hugh (died 1572), with transitional Perpendicular to Early Renaissance arched recesses and figures above. An alabaster effigy commemorates Sir Amyas II (died 1588), with French inscription, removed from St Martin-in-the-Fields. A canopied tomb with figures honours Sir Anthony (died 1600) and his wife (died 1601). The finest monument, executed in full Baroque plasterwork, commemorates John, Baron Poulett (died 1649), though it may date to the early 18th century. Other notable monuments include a memorial to John, First Earl Poulett (died 1745) by Rysbrack, and one to Vere, Earl Poulett (died 1819) by Sir Richard Westmacott. A 17th-century brass is located in the south aisle.