Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary

Anglican parish church standing on Ward Lane. The building dates from the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th centuries and was restored in 1884–85, probably by William Butterfield. It is constructed of coursed and squared rubble with freestone dressings, and has tile and lead-sheeting roofs with crested ridges and copings to verges with cruciform finials.

The church comprises a nave with clerestory, north and south aisles, a south porch, north and south transepts, a chancel, a north vestry, and a west tower. The architectural character is predominantly Perpendicular.

The west tower is a high 3-stage structure of Quantock type, notable for its set-back buttresses which end in long shafts of former pinnacles. A string course runs below the parapet, which is embattled with blank quatrefoil banding and corner pinnacles. The bell-chamber has paired 2-light openings with tracery and louvres, flanked by shafts with pinnacles. A single window of similar design appears on the ringing chamber stage below, with the south example inset with a clock face. A polygonal stair turret sits on the north side. The tall 4-light west window has 2 sub-arches, and below it a door opening with a 4-centred arch head and foliate spandrels, flanked by paired ribbed doors.

The nave is five bays in length with a clerestory containing 3-light square-headed windows. The three-bay south aisle contains a small 2-light square-headed window and a 2-light traceried pointed-head window, with a square-headed west window with tracery. Buttresses and a parapet complete the south aisle elevation. The parapet continues around the south porch, which is finished with a cruciform finial. The porch door opening features a chamfered head to a segmental pointed arch, over a freestone panel. The panel bears the initials R.B. (Abbot R. Beere of Glastonbury, 1493–1524), R.F., and an heraldic shield with a wyvern, as well as the date 1579. The interior of the porch is benched on a flagstone floor, with a late 13th-century inner doorway retaining a fine 16th-century door ribbed and studded with lozenge decoration.

The three-bay north aisle is narrower than the south aisle, with square-headed 2 and 3-light windows with tracery. A north doorway has a plank door with scrolly 15th-century ironwork. The aisle has a parapet and buttresses.

The transepts are single-bay structures with shallow gables, parapets, and large 4-light windows.

The chancel was rebuilt in facsimile of the late 13th century, though it incorporates some medieval work. It is of 2 bays, with north lancets with pointed trefoiled rere-arches and a south window of 2 lights with Y-tracery and a broad trefoiled rere-arch. A 3-light Perpendicular window with label and square head also features on the south side, along with a large 4-light Perpendicular east window. On the south side of the chancel are traces of a former chapel, including a circular pier with 4 attached shafts and chamfered arches of 2 bays. The east wall of the south transept retains the remains of 2 large circular piers and an arch.

The interior is plastered on flagstone floors, with an encaustic pavement to the chancel. The nave has a good moulded tie-beam roof, while the aisles have panelled lean-to roofs. The chancel roof is a wagon roof with a carved wall-plate featuring bosses and gilded decoration. The arcades are restored 13th-century work with circular piers, moulded caps, and double-chamfered arches, serving both nave and aisles across 5 bays. A panelled Perpendicular tower arch and panelled arches to the transepts mark further interior divisions. The north transept contains an inserted Elizabethan arch with leaf decoration and a calvary above, probably a former entrance to a chantry. A 13th-century style sedilia and a Perpendicular stoup are present. Upper and lower entrances to the rood remain.

The furnishings include a good medieval chest, a full set of benches with carved ends featuring broad tracery, geometrical patterns, and leaf motifs. One bench bears the monogram of Queen Mary (1554–59). Some benches date to the 17th century. An Elizabethan pulpit with linenfold panelling, a Jacobean lectern, altar rails, altar table, chair and organ seat made up of re-used panels, a 18th-century kneeler with turned balusters, and a hatchment are present. A brass to Richard Sydenham in armour, dating to around 1490, lies in the nave, and 18th-century wall monuments adorn the interior.

The 1884 rebuild introduced high Gothic fittings including candelabra, a rood screen which may incorporate medieval remains, an organ, reredos, altar rails, choir stalls, and stained glass. A further stained glass window dating to 1908, probably by Morris and Company, also features.

An octagonal font of Early English style is present.

Grooves on the south buttresses are said to have been made by Monmouth's army sharpening their weapons prior to the Battle of Sedgemoor.