Mary Byam Chest Tomb, About 6 Metres South of Chancel, Church of St James the Great is a Grade II listed building in the Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 4 May 1984. Chest tomb.
Mary Byam Chest Tomb, About 6 Metres South of Chancel, Church of St James the Great
- WRENN ID
- western-gutter-gilt
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Somerset
- Constituency
- Tiverton and Minehead MP: Rachel Gilmour (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 4 May 1984
- Type
- Chest tomb
- OS grid reference
- ST 119 283
- Coordinates
- 51.04798, -3.25703
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Mary Byam chest tomb, located about 6 metres south of the chancel at the Church of St James the Great, dates from the mid-17th century. It is made of ashlar sandstone and features a ledge top with a moulded cornice. The tomb has apsidal ends, with a shield in a cartouche on the east end and a skull and crossbones above an hourglass framed by scythes on the west end. The north side is inscribed to Mary, wife of William Byam, who died in 1648, while the south side inscription is illegible. At the time of the survey in March 1983, the tomb was partially subsided and obscured by ivy. It is considered one of the finest chest tombs in the district.
Local climate
Mary Byam Chest Tomb, About 6 Metres South of Chancel, Church of St James the Great receives an average of 840 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 57% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 58% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 30 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 65% of listed buildings. Of these, 12 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.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
- 1 Unidentified Monument in the Churchyard About 8 Metres South West of the South West Buttress of the Tower to the Church of St Mary
- 2 Chest Tomb, 5 Yards to North East of Chancel of the Church of St Mary the Virgin
- 3 Unidentified Chest Tomb, in Churchyard 2 Metres North of Chancel, Church of St Mary
- 4 Chest Tomb, 3 Yards from North of Chancel of the Church of St Mary the Virgin
- 5 Chest Tomb in St Marys Churyard, About 7 Metres South West of South Porch
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings
Nearby listed buildings
- Cross in churchyard, Church of St James the Great
- Church of St James the Great
- Three Chest Tombs in A Line South of the Tower, Church of St James the Great
- Gatepiers with Gate, South-East of Entrance to Churchyard, Church of St James the Great
- Knapp Cottage and Attached Barn
- Cridlands
- Fitzhead Court the Manor
- Two Gate Piers and South-East Boundary Wall, Fitzhead Court
- K6 Telephone Kiosk, Fitzhead
- Clematis Cottage