Christ Church is a

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 ...

church in

Theale Theale () is a large village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, southwest of Reading and 10 miles (16 km) east of Thatcham. The compact parish is bounded to the south and south-east by the Kennet & Avon Canal (which here incorpor ...

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. It was built in 1826–28 to the design of Richard Carver and is a Grade II listed building.

History

Christ Church was built as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

to the parish church of

St Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

Wedmore Wedmore is a large village and civil parish in the county of Somerset, England. It is situated on raised ground, in the Somerset Levels between the River Axe and River Brue, often called the Isle of Wedmore. It forms part of Sedgemoor district. ...

. As a result of the growing population of the parish during the early 19th century, the vicar of Wedmore, Rev. John Richards, sought to provide additional church accommodation for the outlying parts of the parish. The population of Wedmore had reached over 3,000 by 1824 and the parish church was only capable of accommodating 700 people. A chapel of ease for the hamlet of Blackford (Holy Trinity) was opened in 1823 and efforts then concentrated on a church at Theale. Plans for the church were drawn up by Richard Carver, and the foundation stone was laid in January 1826 by Rev. James Richards, brother and successor of Rev. John Richards as vicar of Wedmore. The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Right Rev. George Henry Law, on 7 January 1828. Following the consecration, a "most impressive and highly appropriate" sermon was provided by the

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Mi ...

, the Right Rev.

Henry Ryder Henry Dudley Ryder (21 July 1777 – 31 March 1836) was a prominent English evangelical Anglican bishop in the early years of the nineteenth century. He was the first evangelical to be raised to the Anglican episcopate. Life Ryder was the ...

. The completed church provided approximately 200 free sittings for use of the poor, and also served the small settlements of Panborough and Bagley. Theale was made its own ecclesiastical parish on 11 October 1844. A new organ built by Messrs. Sweetland of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

was opened at the church on 22 December 1884. A new font was consecrated at the church on 24 May 1959 by the vicar of

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

, Rev. W. T. Morris. The font was gifted by relatives in memory of Rev. William Jolliffe Thomas, a former vicar of Theale, Mr. E. H. Thomas and Mrs. G. Thomas.

Architecture

Christ Church is built of rendered Wedmore stone and a flat slate roof. It is made up of a

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. The west end has a

bell-cot A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

containing one bell. The church has an oblong shape, with projecting sections at all four corners. The main entrance has a semi-octagonal porch of ashlar stone. The gallery displays the Hanoverian arms. In his 1958 book ''South and West Somerset'',

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

described the chancel and its glazing as being reminiscent of "the bow-window of a house", which created a "surprising and attractive effect". Fittings of the church include painted reredos, an early 19th century pulpit and altar table, 17th century coffin stools, a 19th-century organ and 20th century font. The churchyard contains Theale's war memorial, which was designated a Grade II listed monument in 2016. The stone column was erected after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was later altered to add additional names after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Christ Church, Theale Churches in Somerset Church of England church buildings in Sedgemoor Grade II listed churches in Somerset Churches completed in 1828