The Church of St Philip and St James in

Norton St Philip Norton St Philip is a village and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The village lies about south of the city of Bath and north of the town of Frome on the eastern slopes of the Mendip Hills. It is situated on the A366 be ...

within the English county of

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_ ...

is 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 ...

. The parish is part of the Hardington Vale benefice within the archdeaconry of Wells.

History

The current building has elements dating back from the 13th and 14th centuries, however it is likely there was a church on the site before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

. In 1345 the fair which had been granted to

Hinton Priory Hinton Priory was a Carthusian monastery in northeast Somerset, England, from 1232 until 1539. History The priory was one of the ten medieval Carthusian houses ( charterhouses) in England. It was first established at Hatherop, Gloucestershir ...

was transferred to Norton St Philip which provided much of the income for the church. Samuel Pepys visited the church in the 17th century and described the tomb of one of the Knights Templar which is now thought to be that of a lawyer or merchant from 1460. He also described the story of the "Fair Maids of Foscott", believed to be

conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''Uterus, in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher in ...

from a local village now known as Foxcote. The north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

was probably added in the 17th century. A major

Victorian restoration The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. It was not the same proc ...

was undertaken by George Gilbert Scott in the 1840s. In 2000 further restoration work was undertaken with new wood and steel vestry, toilets and meeting facilities being installed. As a result of this work, known as "The Hub", and the services it provides to the community, the church was awarded the Village Church for Village Life Award in 2008.

Architecture

The building is made of

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

Doulting Stone Doulting Stone Quarry () is a limestone quarry at Doulting, on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. At present there are only three quarries quarrying Doulting stone. The largest, The Doulting Stone Quarry, was producing building stone in Rom ...

which is rough in some areas with more finely dressed ashlar to the south and east sides, which was probably added during 19th century renovation. It has a slate roof above an oak

barrel roof A barrel roof is a curved roof that, especially from below, is curved like a cut-away barrel. They have some advantages over dome roofs, especially being able to cover rectangular buildings, due to their uniform cross-section. Barrel vault ...

and a three-stage west tower. The tower has a clock by

Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy (25 January 1780 – 8 January 1854) was a clockmaker, active in 18th and 19th century Britain. He succeeded his father Benjamin Vulliamy as head of the firm and Clockmaker to the Crown. Biography The family was of S ...

and

Charles Frodsham Charles Frodsham (15 April 1810 – 11 January 1871) was a distinguished English horologist, establishing the firm of Charles Frodsham & Co, which remains in existence as the longest continuously trading firm of chronometer manufacturers in the ...

dating from 1841, and six bells. The east window has stained glass by

Christopher Webb Christopher Rahere Webb (1886-1966) was an English stained glass designer. His unusual second name was derived from that of the founder of St Bartholomew's Priory in London where his father, Edward Alfred Webb and his uncle, Sir Aston Webb ...

. In other windows there is much older glass. The memorials in the church include one to a soldier slain in Norton St Philip in 1643 during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. There were further military casualties in the village during a skirmish in the Monmouth Rebellion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton St Philip, Saints Philip and James Church of England church buildings in Mendip District 13th-century church buildings in England Grade II* listed churches in Somerset Grade II* listed buildings in Mendip District