Crewkerne Somerset
Church of St Bartholomew, Crewkerne Somerset built of dressed limestone and golden-coloured Ham Hill stone
The present church dates mainly to 15c - early 16c, rebuilt in Perpendicular Gothic style with the riches of the local wool and textile industry , but whose origins date back earlier.
The architect was William Smyth, master of Wells Cathedral from 1475 until his death in 1490 who at least was responsible for the west front & south porch , (He also worked at Sherborne Abbey as well as at St. John's, Glastonbury & while he was at Wells was given the freedom of the city, receiving a retainer of £1.6s.8d yearly and a house rent free, in addition to his fees) . He was responsible for some important fan vaults at a time when the construction of these still lay in the future.
It is believed to stand on the site of a church mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Survey dedicated to St. Stephen. All trace of this Saxon church has gone, but masonry from the previous 13c Norman church remains in some of the walls.
The large square font with 6 incised arches on each face, is probably Norman , possibly now standing on a more modern base www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/314Hcj
The cruciform building was raised on the late 12c / early 13c Norman foundations of an earlier church, for which the only surviving evidence above ground today is some of the lower stonework of the central tower, including a single blocked Early English window, visible internally to the north.
It consists of a chancel, clerestoried nave of 4 bays, aisles, transepts, south porch and embattled central tower with angle turrets. It seats 800 .
No major structural alterations have taken place since the Reformation in the 16c but there have been many changes to the furnishings and fittings to suit the various phases of protestant worship that followed.
The church was restored, with the exception of the chancel, in 1887-9, at a cost of £3,3157, ( Major Sparks, of Crewkerne, contributing £700): in 1893, two readers' stalls and 24 bench ends, all of carved oak, were erected:
The whole chancel was restored and decorated in 1899 by the Hussey family who are remembered in the east window.:
The central section of the west gallery was removed in the late 19c to reveal the great west window. The organ there was relocated to the south transept.
in 1904 the carved oak fan vaulting in the tower lantern www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/f4gmCE was presented by an anonymous donor, and in 1906 a new organ costing £2,000 was given by Miss Sparks:
The tower has a chiming clock of 1902 costing £250, and 8 bells, recast and rehung, with 2 new ones added in 1894, at a cost of £600, of which amount C. W. Haslock and Messrs. W. Sparks and G. Joliff contributed £400:
The main altar was moved under the tower crossing in the 1960’s and a new altar table, made in burred oak by local craftsmen, was provided in 2003.
Narrow and low compared with the nave, the chancel reflects the form of the earlier church. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/f44MLB Behind the high altar there is a carved stone reredos of 1903 given by Miss Hussey depicting the Last Supper. On either side are 15c doorways, now blocked, which led to a former vestry. One door is carved with pigs, the other with angels, signifying which to choose for "clean" Christian living. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/JA5spv
The oldest memorial in the church, on the south wall, is a brass effigy of Thomas Golde who died in 1525. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/5sFo37
Corbels once supported a rood screen at the entrance to the chancel, one of these features a “green man”. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/5ax1a6
The north transept completed c 1530 , with its group of Tudor-style chapels, is architecturally the richest part of the interior and the last part to be completed. The Woolminstone Chapel is flooded with light from the broad flat-arched windows. The tiny former Children’s Chapel contains an imposing 17c memorial to the Merefield family. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/fN61Hr
A room above the stone fan-vaulted ceiling www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/25q12u in the south porch can be reached by a door high up on the wall of the nave. Outside there is a niche with a statue of St Bartholomew above the door and there are many gargoyles and other grotesque carvings decorating the parapet around the building, www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/98x5jP
The west front is considered to be the finest in Somerset after Wells Cathedral. It is suggested that the design with its seven-light window flanked by octagonal stair turrets, was influenced by St George’s Windsor and King’s College Chapel due to royal chaplains present among the rectors at that time. The moulded doorway with adjoining niches, sculpted figures and tracery, although decayed, is of exceptional quality. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/iJ85ku
Picture with thanks - copyright Mike Searle CCL www.geograph.org.uk/photo/868366
Crewkerne Somerset
Church of St Bartholomew, Crewkerne Somerset built of dressed limestone and golden-coloured Ham Hill stone
The present church dates mainly to 15c - early 16c, rebuilt in Perpendicular Gothic style with the riches of the local wool and textile industry , but whose origins date back earlier.
The architect was William Smyth, master of Wells Cathedral from 1475 until his death in 1490 who at least was responsible for the west front & south porch , (He also worked at Sherborne Abbey as well as at St. John's, Glastonbury & while he was at Wells was given the freedom of the city, receiving a retainer of £1.6s.8d yearly and a house rent free, in addition to his fees) . He was responsible for some important fan vaults at a time when the construction of these still lay in the future.
It is believed to stand on the site of a church mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Survey dedicated to St. Stephen. All trace of this Saxon church has gone, but masonry from the previous 13c Norman church remains in some of the walls.
The large square font with 6 incised arches on each face, is probably Norman , possibly now standing on a more modern base www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/314Hcj
The cruciform building was raised on the late 12c / early 13c Norman foundations of an earlier church, for which the only surviving evidence above ground today is some of the lower stonework of the central tower, including a single blocked Early English window, visible internally to the north.
It consists of a chancel, clerestoried nave of 4 bays, aisles, transepts, south porch and embattled central tower with angle turrets. It seats 800 .
No major structural alterations have taken place since the Reformation in the 16c but there have been many changes to the furnishings and fittings to suit the various phases of protestant worship that followed.
The church was restored, with the exception of the chancel, in 1887-9, at a cost of £3,3157, ( Major Sparks, of Crewkerne, contributing £700): in 1893, two readers' stalls and 24 bench ends, all of carved oak, were erected:
The whole chancel was restored and decorated in 1899 by the Hussey family who are remembered in the east window.:
The central section of the west gallery was removed in the late 19c to reveal the great west window. The organ there was relocated to the south transept.
in 1904 the carved oak fan vaulting in the tower lantern www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/f4gmCE was presented by an anonymous donor, and in 1906 a new organ costing £2,000 was given by Miss Sparks:
The tower has a chiming clock of 1902 costing £250, and 8 bells, recast and rehung, with 2 new ones added in 1894, at a cost of £600, of which amount C. W. Haslock and Messrs. W. Sparks and G. Joliff contributed £400:
The main altar was moved under the tower crossing in the 1960’s and a new altar table, made in burred oak by local craftsmen, was provided in 2003.
Narrow and low compared with the nave, the chancel reflects the form of the earlier church. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/f44MLB Behind the high altar there is a carved stone reredos of 1903 given by Miss Hussey depicting the Last Supper. On either side are 15c doorways, now blocked, which led to a former vestry. One door is carved with pigs, the other with angels, signifying which to choose for "clean" Christian living. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/JA5spv
The oldest memorial in the church, on the south wall, is a brass effigy of Thomas Golde who died in 1525. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/5sFo37
Corbels once supported a rood screen at the entrance to the chancel, one of these features a “green man”. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/5ax1a6
The north transept completed c 1530 , with its group of Tudor-style chapels, is architecturally the richest part of the interior and the last part to be completed. The Woolminstone Chapel is flooded with light from the broad flat-arched windows. The tiny former Children’s Chapel contains an imposing 17c memorial to the Merefield family. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/fN61Hr
A room above the stone fan-vaulted ceiling www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/25q12u in the south porch can be reached by a door high up on the wall of the nave. Outside there is a niche with a statue of St Bartholomew above the door and there are many gargoyles and other grotesque carvings decorating the parapet around the building, www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/98x5jP
The west front is considered to be the finest in Somerset after Wells Cathedral. It is suggested that the design with its seven-light window flanked by octagonal stair turrets, was influenced by St George’s Windsor and King’s College Chapel due to royal chaplains present among the rectors at that time. The moulded doorway with adjoining niches, sculpted figures and tracery, although decayed, is of exceptional quality. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/iJ85ku
Picture with thanks - copyright Mike Searle CCL www.geograph.org.uk/photo/868366