Historic Churches in Somerset

A 15th-century church with a wonderful west tower, including superb fan vaulting under the tower arch. There is a 16th-century brass to Philip Bisse, a pair of Perpendicular fonts, and fragments of medieval glass.
Batcombe, Somerset, England, BA4 6HE

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Heritage Highlight: Fan vaulting under the 15th-century tower
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Oliver King, Bishop of Bath and Wells, had a dream of angels climbing a ladder, and a voice said to him, "Let a King restore the church". He took this as a sign that he should rebuild Bath Abbey. So in 1499 he had the existing Norman abbey church pulled down and work begun on a new cathedral. The result is one of the best examples of late medieval Gothic architecture in Britain.
Bath, Somerset, England, BA1 1LT

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Heritage Highlight: Superb Perpendicular vaulting
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St George's dates to the 12th century but most of the present building is 14th and 15th century. Look for a late medieval wooden screen, 16th-century carved bench ends and a 12th-century pillar piscina. In the churchyard is a 1000-year-old yew tree.
Church Lane, Bicknoller, Quantocks, Somerset, England, TA4 4EL

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Heritage Highlight: 16th-century wooden screen
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One of the 'Somerset Towers', a lovely red sandstone church dating to the 14th century. The interior features a fabulously carved and painted 16th-century rood screen, a carved Jacobean pulpit, and a collection of attractively carved and painted 16th-century benches.
Church Street, Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, England, TA4 3AT

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A small Perpendicular parish church famous for its carved bench ends. Three of the bench ends depict the story of an abbot, represented by a fox. In the first panel the abbot preaches to his flock of geese, in the second he is cast in chains, and in the third, the geese hang the fox. This allegory points to the feelings of the villagers towards the church, probably in the form of the powerful Abbot of Glastonbury. The church also features a lovely late Jacobean memorial to John Somerset.
Church Lane, Brent Knoll, Somerset, England, TA9 4EE

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St Nicholas' is a small medieval church dating to the 12th century. The building was enlarged in the 13th century, and a west tower was added in the 15th century.
Backwell, Brockley, Somerset, England, BS48 3AX

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A lovely 15th-century church boasting an ancient oak tree in the churchyard, a richly carved chancel screen, and perhaps the oldest parish chest in England, carved out of a hollow oak log sometime before 1200. Look for the tomb of The Honourable Aubrey Herbert, designed by Edwin Lutyens.
Brushford New Road, Brushford, Somerset, England, TA22 9AP

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Heritage Highlight: 1500 carved oak chancel screen and 12th-century parish chest
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St James Church in the Somerset village of Cameley is a delightful country church in the Mendip Hills. The bulk of the church is built of blue lias stone, with the exception of the lovely west tower, which is built of local red sandstone.
Temple Cloud, Cameley, Somerset, England, BS39 5AH

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St Mary's Church dates to the Norman period but most the present building is 13th and 15th century. Look for the late medieval wagon roof with painted bosses, 15th-century screens, and a pair of 15th-century memorial brasses. Near the pulpit is the grave of the mysterious Child of Cannington, a young girl thought to be an ancient English princess or an early Christian saint, whose grave was the subject of local veneration.
Church Street, Cannington, Somerset, England, TA5 2HS

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Heritage Highlight: Child of Cannington grave
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A 13th-century church incorporating parts of an earlier 12th-century building. The church stands above the Court House manor. The oldest feature is the 12th-century tympanum, or arch over the south door.
Clevedon Lane, Clapton-in-Gordano, Somerset, England, BS20 7RH

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