The Church of St Andrew & St Mary in Pitminster,

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 around 1300 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 current church was built circa 1300 on the site of an earlier Saxon church and expanded in the 15th century. During a

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 ...

in 1869, George Gilbert Scott rebuilt the north aisle and south porch and rebuilt the west chapel. In addition he replaced the clerestory windows and rebuilt the chancel arch. in 1937 the chancel was restored by J.D. Caroe and in 1979 the lady chapel was also restored. The primary building material of the structure is random rubble local stone with dressed stones features of ham stone. The roof is predominantly slate with coped verges with lead roof on the spire and south porch. The tower is in the west and is of two square stages. The lead covered spire is of octagonal shape and is connected to the tower via a quatrefoil parapet and two-light bell-opening. The west window is of three lights and the vestry is of two lights. The vestry is supported by setback buttresses while the south aisle is structurally supported with diagonal buttresses. The porch is of the 19th century and is gabled and single story and is diagonally buttressed. The opening of the porch is moulded as is the inner doorway. The door into the church is also of the 19th century and is accented with decorative hinges. To the right of the door on the porch side are two three light windows with right flanking stepped buttresses. The church also has rood stair turrets on either side of the chancel arch indicative of the one time existence of a rood screen and rood loft; which the stairs provided access to. Such screens were largely removed in the aftermath of the English reformation as they were seen as remnants of Catholicism. A select few 16th century bench (pew) ends remain though most are of the 19th century. The pulpit is a handsome example of the early 17th century with a sounding board above it from th
Bluecoat school
in

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

; most likely originally created by London craftsman. Notably, nearby the organ is linenfold paneling. The font is of the 15th century and is octagonal and

perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...

is form. It features quatrefoil decorated panels, two carved with depictions of St George and St James of Conpostela, later panel depicting

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), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. The

lectern A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. ...

is of brass and is in memory of William Amasa Copp who died in 1901. Altar and other sanctuary fixtures are from the

W.D. Caroe WD may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''The Walking Dead'' (TV series) * ''White Dwarf'' (magazine) Businesses and organizations Government agencies * Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division * War Department (United Kingdom) Oth ...

restoration. There are remains of medieval stained glass in upper lights of the lady chapel north window. Otherwise, the church is a collection of late 19th to post war 20th century glass including that in the lady chapel east window (of 1894) and west window (of 1904) - both by Keape. The east window is of 1881. The interior is distinguished by effigy tombs of three generations of the Colles family who were lords of the manor in the 16th and 17th centuries. In early 2020, during the

Coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

, the church suffered heritage damage. The Anglican parish is part of the Blackdown benefice within the

archdeaconry of Taunton The Archdeacon of Taunton has been, since the twelfth century, the senior ecclesiastical officer in charge of the archdeaconry of Taunton in the Diocese of Bath and Wells (in the Church of England). The archdeaconry includes seven deaneries. Hist ...

See also

References

Further reading