The Anglican Church of the Holy Cross in

Babcary Babcary is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, about east of Somerton and southwest of Castle Cary, in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 248. It lies close to the River Cary and the A37. The parish in ...

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, was built in the 14th century. It 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 ...

History

The Church of the Holy Cross had its origins before the Norman Conquest, with a church being recorded in 1200. The fabric dates from the 14th and 15th centuries with the chancel and north aisle being added in the 19th century 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 ...

in 1875–76. Further restoration was undertaken in the 1950s. In 1764

James Woodforde James Woodforde (1740–1803) was an English clergyman, mainly in Somerset and Norfolk, remembered as the author of ''The Diary of a Country Parson''. This vivid account of parish life remained unpublished until the 20th century. Early life Ja ...

, the author of ''The Diary of a Country Parson'', was the curate at Babcary. The parish is part of the Six Pilgrims

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 ...

within 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 C ...

Architecture

The stone building has stone slate roofs. It consists of a two- bay

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 three-bay

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 ...

with a 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, parl ...

. The three-stage tower is supported by corner

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es. The tower contains a bell dating from 1753 and made by Thomas Bilbie of the

Bilbie family The Bilbie family were bell founders and clockmakers based initially in Chew Stoke, Somerset and later at Cullompton, Devon in south-west England from the late 17th century to the early 19th century. Their importance to the local economy and ...

. Inside the church are a 14th-century

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

and octagonal

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

dating from 1632.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babcary, Church of the Holy Cross Grade II* listed buildings in South Somerset Grade II* listed churches in Somerset Church of England church buildings in South Somerset

History

Architecture

See also

References