Our First Event for 2020
Fine Churches of South Somerset
Our first event is a church crawl on Saturday, 21st March starting at 2pm at Odcombe, then to Montacute, and ending at Chiselborough with tea.
Book in with Simon Colledge on 01460 75815 or by email: simoncolledge@hotmail.co.uk
ODCOMBE: St Peter & St Paul’s Church,Dray Road, Odcombe, Yeovil, BA2 28U
13thC in origin, the church we see today is mainly C15 with restored Victorian restoration and a north transept added in 1874. The unusual west door is thought to have been relocated from elsewhere and is carved with spandrels under a deep square label moulding, complete with headstops.
The interiors, being mainly 19thC, contain some 25 stained glass windows, as well as a wall plaque commemorating Thomas Coryate. Famous for his book ‘Coryate’s Crudities’ - chronicling his travels through 17thC Europe - he is credited with introducing the dinner fork and the parasol into England. On to Montacute.
MONTACUTE: St Catherines’s Church, Middle St, Montacute. TA15 6UU
Beginning its life as the burial chapel in the grounds of a Cluniac Priory, the present church dates from the 12thC with 13th, 14th& 15thC additions, though heavily ‘restored’in 1870. However, the Victorians did retain an old Norman door arch (with signs of fire damage) & the later north porch with 1stfloor parvise. Many of the memorials are dedicated to the Phileps family, once owners of Montacute House.
To the south of the church, the magnificent priory gatehouse, dovecote and fishpond can still be seen. On to Chiselboriough.
CHISELBOROUGH: St Peter & St Paul’s Church, Church Lane, Chiselborough, Stoke sub Hamdon. TA14 6TR
With 12thC origins and a C17 chancel, the ham stone coursed rubble walls and welsh slate roof, stand tall to the west of the village. However it is the magnificent 13thC spire set over the unusually positioned central tower - located between the nave & the chancel - that dominates the area.
The interior is lit by tall single windows bringing light onto the white walls, while the stained glass shields in the west window are those of the Strangways (Earls of Ilchester) and the Wyndham families, who both held the Manorial rights to Chiselborough at one time.
Tea here – donations please.
Book with Simon Colledge: tel: 01460 75815 email simoncolledge@hotmail.co.uk
Notes from William's Travels
The first in an occasional series
William Newsom one of our trustees is on a mission to visit every church in Somerset. He is reporting back when he comes across anything unusual. There is always something new to discover in churches and William's first unusual find are mass dials. Sometimes known as scratch dials, these date from the time before clocks, and were a means of knowing when the next mass was to be said. Effectively simple sundials, they are to be found scratched on the south facing wall of a church and are circular, usually about a foot wide, with a hole in the middle into which was fixed a wooden peg projecting out at right angles and various lines radiating out from the centre. As the sun traversed the sky the peg cast a shadow indicating the time at which services were held. Many churches in Somerset dating from the 15th century and earlier have them. The church of Holy Trinity, Newton St Loe has two alongside the south porch.
The church of St Bartholomew’s, Ubly has one in the north porch which is in the wrong place as it was moved from the south wall when a major restoration was carried out in the 19th century.
