Church Of St Ethel Dreda

The Church of St. Ethel Dreda is a parish church dating from 1854-6, designed by John Morton for Sir Peregrine Acland and his son-in-law, Sir Alexander Acland-Hood. It is constructed of squared and coursed Doulting stone with Bath stone dressings and stone slates, featuring coped verges and a chamfered plinth. The church comprises a four-bay nave, chancel, vestry, north and south aisles, and a northwest tower, with a south porch. It is built in the Late 13th-century Geometric style.

The three-stage tower has pierced parapetwork displaying the initials and coats of arms of the donors, angled buttresses, and two-light bell openings with quatrefoil Somerset tracery. A clock is housed under an ogee hood mould in the second stage, with a two-light window below. A deeply moulded entrance is on the west side of the tower, and a stair turret in the northeast corner rises to an ashlar spirelet with a weathervane. The west front features a gabled end to the nave with a four-light window and a gabled end to the south aisle with a three-light window. The south front has a two-light window to the left and two two-light windows to the right of a gabled, buttressed porch containing a three-bay sedilia-type arcade and double doors with decorative hinges. A three-light window is on the east face of the south aisle, while two single-light traceried windows are found on the chancel, and a three-light window at the east end and a two-light window at the vestry. The north front features two single-light traceried windows to the vestry. All windows have hood moulds with carved foliage and faces worked to stops. Notable features include a pair of gargoyles at the junction of chancel and south aisle, attributed to Farmer, who also carved details within the interior.

Inside, the arcades rest on Babbacombe marble piers with naturally carved capitals. Angel corbels support a deep-arch braced scissor truss roof, with one tier of cusping in the nave and two tiers in the chancel. The aisles have arch braced collar trusses with queen struts. The chancel is tiled with the coats of arms of the donors. The church contains a 12th-century font and a good mid-19th century brass lectern. The church is distinguished by its unusually homogenous collection of mid-19th century fittings within a contemporary interior, complemented by its fine stone carving. The previous medieval church, from which the font originates, was reputedly rebuilt around 1583 and subsequently demolished by the Aclands when St. Audries Park was extended and the village resited.