Hemyock Devon
Church of St Mary, Hemyock Devon built of local flints and cherts, occupies a central position in the village bordering St Margaret's brook
Hemyock is the largest village on the Blackdown Hills. It has a very long history with prehistoric remains being found, from about 100 BC to well beyond. In the middle ages local iron ores were smelted in small bloomeries (furnaces) to produce pure iron.
In Saxon times the battle of Hemyock was fought at Simonsburrow between the native Britons and King Ime's Saxon army, which put an end (temporarily) to the Kings expansion to the west.
The name Hemyock could have originated from the British stream name "Samiaco" (meaning summer), other authorities suggest a Saxon origin from a personal name "Hemman" coupled with a Saxon word for a bend or a hook (occi).
Hemyock gave its name to the Hemyock Hundred, a central town surrounded by hamlets of 7 parishes, that was an administrative unit of local government during the Saxon period.
After the Norman conquest a castle, now a ruin, was built adjacent to the church.
From the 1500's to the early 1800's much of the parishes wealth came from the production of wool.
The church has had its dedication changed several times. In the 1400s it was St Mary's, after the reformation St. George and by the mid 1700s it was St. Peter's, reverting to St. Mary's in the 1760s
The first written record dates from the year 1268, but it is obvious that parts of the building are much older. Remains of Norman arches may be seen in the interior walls of the tower and it would appear that the first church on the site could have been cruciform in shape with the tower at the centre.
Originally the church had a spire on top of the tower, but it was removed in the late 1600s and this may be the reason why the present tower is not very high.
It now consists of a chancel, north east chancel chapel & vestry, nave, north and south aisles and early Norman three stage battlemented west tower with inset south porch .
Inside the building, the bowl of the font survives from 1200. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/v7S42amH60
The southern aisle was formally a chantry dedicated to St. Katherine. There is a piscina there and hagioscopes on each side of the chancel arch give a view of the main altar to the side altars
Partial rebuilding of 1847 by Richard Carver of Taunton included a new west gallery replacing two older ones, new windows & furnishings. 15c alterations were largely destroyed, but Carver's work respected certain intriguing peculiarities of the medieval ground plan which was retained along with the tower .
The tower has early Norman arches to the north, south and east. There is no evidence of a west arch, although it may have been destroyed when the late 19c west window was inserted. The north arch alone is visible externally. There is no masonry joint between the west face of the tower and the adjoining south tower porch, and the quoining of the south-west angle of the tower stops at the level of the parapet of the porch. This suggests that it is a contemporary build. The north-west angle has been disturbed by the addition of a buttress. Furthermore the south wall of the tower porch is on the line of the old nave south wall, the present south arcade, ie. the tower arch facing the nave and the chancel arch are off centre to the present nave. The possibility of the west tower having once been a crossing tower has been suggested, although the close proximity of a stream to the west, and the lack of any evidence of a west tower arch disputes this . The puzzle is complicated further by the existence of a medieval flight of stairs that runs from the tower porch to what is now a west nave gallery; the point at which the stairs enter the nave west wall is between the line of the present south arcade and the south impost of the Norman east tower arch. Where can they have led originally? Possibly there was a screen intended to house relics www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/W4wb74mK82.
The registers date from 1635.
On the west wall are the lists of the village charities, together with a list of the "Dog Whippers" who kept the church free of dogs during services
www.google.com/local/place/fid/0x486d924d4da92367:0xf1d63...
Hemyock Devon
Church of St Mary, Hemyock Devon built of local flints and cherts, occupies a central position in the village bordering St Margaret's brook
Hemyock is the largest village on the Blackdown Hills. It has a very long history with prehistoric remains being found, from about 100 BC to well beyond. In the middle ages local iron ores were smelted in small bloomeries (furnaces) to produce pure iron.
In Saxon times the battle of Hemyock was fought at Simonsburrow between the native Britons and King Ime's Saxon army, which put an end (temporarily) to the Kings expansion to the west.
The name Hemyock could have originated from the British stream name "Samiaco" (meaning summer), other authorities suggest a Saxon origin from a personal name "Hemman" coupled with a Saxon word for a bend or a hook (occi).
Hemyock gave its name to the Hemyock Hundred, a central town surrounded by hamlets of 7 parishes, that was an administrative unit of local government during the Saxon period.
After the Norman conquest a castle, now a ruin, was built adjacent to the church.
From the 1500's to the early 1800's much of the parishes wealth came from the production of wool.
The church has had its dedication changed several times. In the 1400s it was St Mary's, after the reformation St. George and by the mid 1700s it was St. Peter's, reverting to St. Mary's in the 1760s
The first written record dates from the year 1268, but it is obvious that parts of the building are much older. Remains of Norman arches may be seen in the interior walls of the tower and it would appear that the first church on the site could have been cruciform in shape with the tower at the centre.
Originally the church had a spire on top of the tower, but it was removed in the late 1600s and this may be the reason why the present tower is not very high.
It now consists of a chancel, north east chancel chapel & vestry, nave, north and south aisles and early Norman three stage battlemented west tower with inset south porch .
Inside the building, the bowl of the font survives from 1200. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/v7S42amH60
The southern aisle was formally a chantry dedicated to St. Katherine. There is a piscina there and hagioscopes on each side of the chancel arch give a view of the main altar to the side altars
Partial rebuilding of 1847 by Richard Carver of Taunton included a new west gallery replacing two older ones, new windows & furnishings. 15c alterations were largely destroyed, but Carver's work respected certain intriguing peculiarities of the medieval ground plan which was retained along with the tower .
The tower has early Norman arches to the north, south and east. There is no evidence of a west arch, although it may have been destroyed when the late 19c west window was inserted. The north arch alone is visible externally. There is no masonry joint between the west face of the tower and the adjoining south tower porch, and the quoining of the south-west angle of the tower stops at the level of the parapet of the porch. This suggests that it is a contemporary build. The north-west angle has been disturbed by the addition of a buttress. Furthermore the south wall of the tower porch is on the line of the old nave south wall, the present south arcade, ie. the tower arch facing the nave and the chancel arch are off centre to the present nave. The possibility of the west tower having once been a crossing tower has been suggested, although the close proximity of a stream to the west, and the lack of any evidence of a west tower arch disputes this . The puzzle is complicated further by the existence of a medieval flight of stairs that runs from the tower porch to what is now a west nave gallery; the point at which the stairs enter the nave west wall is between the line of the present south arcade and the south impost of the Norman east tower arch. Where can they have led originally? Possibly there was a screen intended to house relics www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/W4wb74mK82.
The registers date from 1635.
On the west wall are the lists of the village charities, together with a list of the "Dog Whippers" who kept the church free of dogs during services
www.google.com/local/place/fid/0x486d924d4da92367:0xf1d63...