Church of St Thomas is a Grade II* listed building in the Somerset local planning authority area, England. Church. 2 related planning applications.

Church of St Thomas

WRENN ID
tilted-hinge-plum
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Somerset
Constituency
Wells and Mendip Hills MP: Tessa Munt (LD)
Country
England
Type
Church
Address
Church of St Thomas, St Thomas Street, Wells, BA5 2UZ
OS grid reference
ST 556 461
Coordinates
51.21297, -2.63699
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: sale history · EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Thomas is an Anglican parish church built between 1856 and 1857, with an extension in 1864, designed by SS Teulon as a memorial to Dean Richard Kenkyns. The church is constructed from local stone, squared and banded with red and grey, featuring Doulting ashlar dressings and a Welsh slate roof with coloured diamond banding and coped gables.

The building's plan incorporates a five-bay nave, an apsidal chancel of a half duo-decagonal shape, a narrow north aisle, a wide south aisle (extended in 1854), a north porch, and a north-east tower with a spire that also houses an organ chamber and vestry. A choir vestry was added to the south side in 1926 to match the existing style. The chancel features buttresses with two offsets on each angle, framing two-light Geometric style traceried windows with arched head-stop labels, and a traceried parapet. The south aisle has two- and three-light Geometric traceried windows, with an eaves moulding featuring ball-flower ornament. The north aisle has gables with iron finials over the two-light traceried windows, and a single-light window in the west wall. The porch has a deeply moulded outer arch with mid-20th century glazed doors, side buttresses, and three-bay arcading. The west elevation contains a five-light window to the nave and a four-light window to the south aisle. The spire features a single-stage banded tower with a three-light north window and a clock within a gabled decorative recess. Corner buttresses extend into crocketed finials, adorned with statues of the four Evangelists. Between these finials is a two-light trefoil-arched traceried open window with stone grills, set under ornamental gables. Small gabletted and pierced trefoil vents are present halfway up the spire, and the 45-meter spire is topped with an elaborate iron weathervane. An octagonal stair turret with a pitched roof is located in the south-east corner.

Inside, the roof is supported by crown-post trusses with ogee windbraces and coloured plaster infill panels. The arcades have slim columns with foliated capitals, and there is no dividing arch between the nave and chancel. The interior is characterized by extensive polychromy and stencilled decoration. An extended reredos includes an elaborately carved pulpit and font, and much of the furniture is also to Teulon’s design, including an ornate lock to the north door. The glass is tinted green, with patterned caning and vines drawn in outline. The church contains Skidmore's tubular altar rails, Wailes's glass, mosaic panels, coloured marble shafts, crocketed niches, and angel corbels, contributing to a sumptuous overall effect.

Local climate

Church of St Thomas receives an average of 860 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 62% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 70% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 52% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 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

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  • Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
  • Sale history — 2 transactions since 2015
  • Related listed building consents — 2 applications
  • 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
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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Churchyard Boundary Wall to Church of St Thomas Grade II 25 m
  2. Post Office Store Grade II 40 m
  3. 75, St Thomas Street Grade II 43 m
  4. 73, St Thomas Street Grade II 45 m
  5. Number 69 and Front Boundary Wall Grade II 47 m
  6. Number 92 and Attached Piers and Gates Grade II 51 m
  7. The Old Vicarage and East Vicarage Grade II 52 m
  8. 90, St Thomas Street Grade II 58 m
  9. Number 71 and Front Boundary Wall Grade II 62 m
  10. Number 67 and Front Boundary Wall Grade II 73 m