The Church of St John the Baptist, Frome is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

within the English county of

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The first church on the site was founded by

Aldhelm Aldhelm (, ; 25 May 709), Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey, Bishop of Sherborne, and a writer and scholar of Latin poetry, was born before the middle of the 7th century. He is said to have been the son of Kenten, who was of the royal house of Wessex ...

around 685 AD The late Saxon building was replaced at end of the 12th century and expanded with addition of chantry chapels up to the time of a major extension of the church around 1420 to its present footprint. In 1852 the controversial priest William James Early Bennett was appointed as the vicar and undertook major changes both in the organisation of the parish and the fabric of the church. The restoration by

Charles Edmund Giles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

included stained glass by

Charles Eamer Kempe Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lychg ...

and statuary by James Forsyth. The entrance to the church passes a holy well and stone-sculptured ''

Via Crucis The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

'' (Way of the Cross) depicting seven scenes from the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

. It is unique in the Anglican church in England.

History

The present parish church of St

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, with its tower and spire, was built between the late 12th and early 15th centuries, replacing an earlier building described by

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...

in the 1120s as having survived the centuries. The first church of St John the Baptist (''in honorem sancti Johannis Baptista'') had been established when

obtained a grant from

Pope Sergius I Pope Sergius I (8 September 701) was the bishop of Rome from 15 December 687 to his death on 8 September 701, and is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected at a time when two rivals, Paschal and Theodore, were locked ...

to establish a foundation of mission priests to spread the faith in

Selwood Forest The ancient Selwood Forest ran approximately between Gillingham in Dorset and Chippenham in Wiltshire. It is described by the historian Barbara Yorke as a "formidable natural obstacle" in the Anglo-Saxon period, which was a significant bounda ...

. The earliest, probably timber, church is likely to have shared the same rocky platform as the present church, located between two streams running down the hill on either side, in line with Blindhouse Lane and Gentle Street. By the second half of the 11th century the then stone-built church was one of a number held in plurality by

Regenbald Regenbald (sometimes known as Regenbald of Cirencester) was a priest and royal official in Anglo–Saxon England under King Edward the Confessor. His name suggests that he was not a native Englishman, and perhaps he was German or Norman. He firs ...

, and the church lands merited a separate entry in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

. In the 19th century some fragments of masonry possibly dating from 8th or 9th centuries found on the site were set into an old

hagioscope A hagioscope () or squint is an architecture, architectural term denoting a small splayed opening or tunnel at seated eye-level, through an internal masonry dividing wall of a church in an oblique direction (south-east or north-east), giving wo ...

, close to the entrance of St Andrew's Chapel; one of them may have been part of a standing cross. Archaeological work in 2021 has identified the location of the earlier church described by William of Malmesbury as being within the Eastern half of the present church nave. In the 14th and 15th centuries separate

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

chapels to St Andrew, St Nicholas and St Mary the Virgin were established. Around 1418 William Starke was the vicar. After the removal of stained glass in 1643 as ordered by the

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

there was a period of neglect of the fabric, and by the early 19th century the church was in need of restoration work. When the south aisle was being rebuilt in the 1860s, stonework interpreted as foundations of arcades and possible Saxon interments were found, but these were quickly covered so as not to delay the rebuilding. There was some restoration of the Chancel and adjoining side chapel, now the Ken Chapel, in the 1840s at the expense of the then patrons,

Longleat Longleat is a stately home about west of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, it is a Grade I listed building and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath. Longleat is set in of parkl ...

The controversial priest William James Early Bennett was appointed as the vicar in 1852. Bennett is celebrated for having provoked the decision that the doctrine of the

Real Presence The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, sometimes shortened Real Presence'','' is the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist, not merely symbolically or metaphorically, but in a true, real and substantial way. Th ...

is a

dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

not inconsistent with the creed of the

. As a leading member of the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Un ...

he had served as priest at various churches in London including St Barnabas, Pimlico which he resigned in 1851, following doctrinal complaints and a

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

dispute with his

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, Charles Blomfield - after being accused of

ritualism A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

. Within a few years of Bennett's arrival the system of pew privilege, by which the wealthy bought their pews, was abandoned and many of the pews and the galleries were removed. He also divided the parish into 12 districts and established schools, classes, a dispensary and other charities for the population. He set up a choir school for 12 boys and creches for the children of the town's factory workers. He bought property adjoining the grammar school which had been founded at the dissolution of the chantries, merged the sites, and built a new school, now used as the church hall and known as the Bennett Centre. Bennett's publication ''The Old Church Porch'' (1854–1862), issued at Frome, formed a prototype for the first parish magazine, although its format was rather academic in parts. In the restoration work of the 1850s and 1860s the principal architect was Charles Edmund Giles. Bennett employed the sculptor James Forsyth to carve statues of saints and the

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

. Medallions set in the spandrels of the nave arches were inspired by

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

's similar work that Bennett had seen in the Old Sacristy at Florence during his excursion into Europe in 1851. Forsyth was also responsible for the carving of the

alongside the steps on the north side of the church. It was designated as a Grade II*

in 1983. The parish and

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

of Frome (St John the Baptist) is within the archdeaconry of Wells and the

Diocese of Bath and Wells The Diocese of Bath and Wells is a diocese in the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England. The diocese covers the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is located in the ...

Architecture

The church contains a

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

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

and

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

and has a 7 or 8

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'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

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 ...

. Fragments of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

work are left including carved stones at the base of the tower and parts of the arch into the Lady Chapel. The interior is elaborately adorned with sculptures and

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

, most of which is by

. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

was recovered in the nineteenth century from under the floor at the West end of the church and restored, at first in the middle of the nave and then moved by Bennet to the Chapel of St Nicholas which became the baptistry. It is surrounded by a pavement by Clayton & Bell showing the seven virtues and seven deadly sins. A font which had been in use in the present Ken Chapel in the early nineteenth century was given to Christ Church, Frome, after its construction. There are brass gates to the Chancel and a forged metal screen to the Lady Chapel, complete with gas lamp feature, both locally manufactured by

John Webb Singer John Webb Singer (23 February 1819 – 6 May 1904) was an English businessman who created a substantial art foundry in Frome, Somerset, known for its statuary and ecclesiastical products. He had assembled immense collections of antique jew ...

. There is a fine brass lectern and brass candlesticks in the church, which may also be from Singer's works. Outside the east end of the church is the tomb of

Thomas Ken Thomas Ken (July 1637 – 19 March 1711) was an English cleric who was considered the most eminent of the English non-juring bishops, and one of the developers of modern English hymnody. Early life Thomas Ken was born in 1637 at Little Be ...

(July 1637 – 19 March 1711) who was an English

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

who was considered one of the fathers of modern English

hymnology Hymnology (from Greek ὕμνος ''hymnos'', "song of praise" and -λογία ''-logia'', "study of") is the scholarly study of religious song, or the hymn, in its many aspects, with particular focus on choral and congregational song. It may be m ...

and the most eminent of the seven Bishops who refused the oath of Indulgence 1689 to William and Mary and was consequently deprived of his See of Bath and Wells. Hence the symbolism: an empty grave, and empty coffin, outside the church. He is remembered in the Church of England with a

Lesser Festival Lesser Festivals are a type of observance in the Anglican Communion, including the Church of England, considered to be less significant than a Principal Feast, Principal Holy Day, or Festival, but more significant than a Commemoration. Whereas Pr ...

on 8 June. Ken is honoured with a

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 20 March. Via Crucis St Johns Church Frome

The ''

'' (Way of the Cross) is unique and stone-sculptured. It was added in the 1860s, when several buildings were demolished to make way for it. The carvings by James Forsyth depict seven scenes from the

. The first shows Christ being condemned by

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

, while the second is Christ carrying his cross. The third sculpture illustrates Christ falling under his cross, supported by

Simon of Cyrene Simon of Cyrene (, Standard Hebrew ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian Hebrew ''Šimʿôn''; , ''Simōn Kyrēnaios'') was the man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus of Nazareth as Jesus was taken to his crucifixion, according to all three ...

. The next tableau is of Christ meeting his mother and then having his clothing removed. The final representations as you climb the steps towards the church are of Christ being nailed to the cross and then his death, which is displayed on the gable of the north porch. Adjacent the northern corner of the churchyard a

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

is fed from a spring that rises near the south western corner of the churchyard on Gentle Street . This is used as a site for

well dressing Well dressing, also known as well flowering, is a tradition practised in some parts of rural England in which wells, springs and other water sources are decorated with designs created from materials such as flower petals. The custom is most close ...

each year in May. The screen and gates at the entrance to the forecourt of the church was built in 1814 by Jeffrey Wyatt at the time when Bath Street was cut as a new road.

Organ

The church has a large three-manual pipe organ. The earliest parts of the organ date from around 1680 and were made by

Renatus Harris Renatus Harris ( – 1724) was an English master organ maker in England in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. During the period of the Commonwealth, in the mid-seventeenth century, Puritans controlled the country and organ m ...

, but there is later work by Young, Richard Seede and Vowles. In 1923 the organ was rebuilt by

Hill, Norman and Beard William Hill & Son & Norman & Beard Limited (commonly known as Hill, Norman and Beard) were a major pipe organ manufacturer originally based in Norfolk. History They were founded in 1916 by the merger of Norman and Beard and William Hill & So ...

List of organists

*William Black 1701–1703 *James Clarke 1703–1704 *William Clarke 1704–1710 *Abraham Jordan 1710 *Stephen Jefferies 1710–1717 *Philipp Pembruge 1717–1726 *Matthew Mattock 1727–1736 *John Stevens 1736–1744 *Hugh Wilkins 1744–1783 *Peter Daniell 1783–1799 *Thomas Daniell 1799–1862 *Henry Daniell 1862–1873 *Jabez Pratt 1873–1877 *W.H. Drake 1877–1878 *Mrs. F. Harrold 1878–1915 *George Heath–Gracie 1915–1919 *A.A. Gregory 1919–1920 *H. Alline Fry 1920–1940 *Robert Gillings 1961–1962 *Michael Burton 1962–1965 *David Finnamore 1965–1968 *Peter H. Matthews 1968–1976 *Stephen Carleston 1976–1979 *David Rogers 1980 *Steven Cowley 1981–1982 *Revd Kenneth Denton 1982–1986 *Bryan Hesford 1986 *Colin John Norvall 1987–

References

External links

Frome St John the Baptist Parish Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frome, Church of St John the Baptist Church of England church buildings in Mendip District Grade II* listed churches in Somerset Grade II* listed buildings in Mendip District

Saint John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...