All Saints Church is a former

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

parish church in

Curland Curland is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 225. The parish includes the hamlet of Abbey Hill. Curland is home of a thriving e ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England. Designed by

Benjamin Ferrey Benjamin Ferrey FSA FRIBA (1 April 1810–22 August 1880) was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic Revival. Family Benjamin Ferrey was the youngest son of Benjamin Ferrey Snr (1779–1847), a draper who became Mayor of Christc ...

, it was built in 1855–56 to replace an earlier church on the same site and became redundant in 1972. The church, now a private residence, has been a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

since 1955. In the churchyard, an early 18th century chest tomb of the Slade family also became Grade II listed in 1986.

History

All Saints was built in 1855–56 to replace Curland's parish church, which had become dilapidated. Plans for the new church were drawn up by

and its construction largely paid for by Rev. Prebendary Lance, the rector of

Buckland St Mary Buckland St Mary is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated to the west of Ilminster and south of Taunton in the South Somerset district, close to the A303. The village has a population of 521. The parish is within the Blackdown Hi ...

, alongside public subscription. The committee of the diocese's Church Building Association also granted £60 towards the estimated £420 cost of the church in 1855. The foundation stone was laid on 28 August 1855 by Rev. Charles Leigh Pemberton, the rector of

Curry Mallet Curry Mallet (anciently "Cory Mallett") is a village and parish in Somerset, England. It is on the Fivehead River (also known as the River Ile), east of Taunton in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 306. History At the ...

and Curland. The church was rebuilt from the foundations, with Mr. H. Davis of

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

as the contractor and Mr. J. Billing of Buckland St Mary as the supervisor. Stonework from the Curland's previous church was reused and additional stone salvaged from the chancel of the church at Buckland St Mary, which at the time was also undergoing reconstruction according to designs by Ferrey. All Saints reopened on 28 October 1856. As the new church was constructed according to the exact shape of its predecessor, reconsecration was not necessary. It remained a place of worship until it was declared redundant on 27 October 1972. The church was used for storage from 1974 and later converted to residential use in 1991.

Architecture

All Saints is built of flint with dressings of

Hamstone Hamstone is the name given to a honey-coloured building stone from Ham Hill, Somerset, England. It is a well-cemented medium to coarse grained limestone characterised by marked bedding planes of clay inclusions and less well-cemented material w ...

and a clay tile roof, in the

Perpendicular style Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...

. The west three-light window and four of the five side two-light windows were sourced from the chancel of Buckland St Mary's church. The east three-light window was new and fitted with glass by

James Powell and Sons The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, were London-based English glassmakers, leadlighters and stained glass window manufacturers. As ''Whitefriars Glass'', the company existed from the 17th century, but became well ...

of Whitefriars. The church was designed to accommodate 70 persons and made up of three-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

and south porch. A small bell-turret for two bells was added to the west gable. The low pitched roof was built of stained deal and the altar laid with

encaustic tile Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colours but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern appears inla ...

s. The pulpit and reading desk were made of stained oak. The glazing work was carried out by Mr. Gould of

Chard Chard or Swiss chard (; ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf blade; ...

, the painting and diaper work of the

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

by Mr. A. Stansell of Taunton and the tablets containing the commandments (gifted by Mr. J. Stephens of Musgrove) was engraved by Mr. T. D. Ward of Taunton.

References

{{Reflist Churches in Somerset Former churches in Somerset Grade II listed churches in Somerset Church of England church buildings in Somerset Grade II listed buildings in Taunton Deane