The Church of St John the Baptist in

Pawlett Pawlett is a small village north of Bridgwater, in the Sedgemoor district of the English county of Somerset. The village has Roman or Saxon origins. It has a Norman church and expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries with the draining of the ...

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 dates from the 12th century and has been designated as a Grade I

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 ...

. The

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 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

church of St John the Baptist replaced an earlier

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

structure and the church is thought to have been a popular station on medieval pilgrimages from Watchet to

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

. The south doorway arch features three bands of decoration: lozenges, zigzags, and a biting beasts motif on the outer ring. The

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

appears to be made from two separate fonts, the bottom part an inverted Saxon font topped with an upright plain Norman font. The rood screen is 15th-century. The 20th-century north window shows

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

blessing children who are in modern dress and holding a teddy bear and toy boat. Other unusual features include pew boxes that still retain hat pegs, reflecting a time when congregants wore hats to church. The chancel includes wide communion rails on three sides, thought to have been used for seated communion. Unusual and ancient features of the church in part owe their preservation to major renovations made in 1779. That "modernization" seems to have slaked the zeal for Victorian-era updates which eliminated such features in many other churches in the area. The crumbling of the church's blue lias stone led to its exterior being coated with cement. Image:Pawlettstjohn.jpg, South side of St John the Baptist church Image:Pawlettarch.jpg, Norman arch over south door, St John the Baptist church Image:Pawlettfont.jpg, Inverted Saxon baptismal font supporting upright Norman font Image:Pawlettwindow.jpg, North window stained glass with modern-era children memorializes Rose Helena Wadden, said to have taught the first children's Sunday School class in Bridgwater Image:Pawlettroodscreen.jpg, Rood screen and altar Image:Pawlettpews.jpg, Pew boxes still include pegs for hanging up hats

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pawlett, John the Baptist Church of England church buildings in Sedgemoor Grade I listed churches in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in Sedgemoor 12th-century church buildings in England

See also

References