The Church of Saint Andrew is an Anglican

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the 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 community activities, ...

located on Turnhill Road, in High Ham,

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. It shows evidence of 12th- and 14th-century building and was largely rebuilt in 1476. On 17 April 1959, it was 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 ...

History

The church is built in the

Perpendicular style Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

. The date 1474 is recorded in an inscription on the tomb of the rector who re-built it. The rebuilding of the church in 1476 took about one year, and was performed under John Selwood, then Abbot of

Glaston Glaston is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish remained unchanged between the 2001 and the 2011 censuses. The village's name means 'farm/settlement of Glathr'. Glaston is abou ...

, who was also the patron and donor of the rectory. The rector John Dyer built the present

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. Ov ...

in 1476. The rector Adrian Schall wrote a memoir about the church in 1598. Some 19th-century restoration work was done by John Norton.

Architecture

Structure

The design is a four-cell plan with a three-bay chancel, and five-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 ...

. There are north and south aisles, a south porch, and a west tower. Building materials include local lias stone and

hamstone Hamstone is the name given to a honey-coloured building stone from Ham Hill, Somerset, England. It is a well-cemented medium to coarse grained limestone characterised by marked bedding planes of clay inclusions and less well-cemented material ...

. The main roofs are composed of

Welsh slate The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the l ...

with moulded coped

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s, battlemented

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

s. The aisle and porch roofs are of sheet lead. The tower dates from the early 14th century, and is in three stages. It is squat with triple plinth bands, parapets, corner gargoyles, angled and straight buttresses. The chancel was built in 1499. It has a double

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

course,

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...

s, parapets, coped gables, and angled buttresses. Each buttress had an east window of five-light panes; the north and south sections had three-light windows. The chancel was built with a moulded

king post A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, supports items above f ...

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

roof and many rosettes, angels and other carvings. The wide panelled chancel arch has a well preserved Devon-style timber screen. The north aisle has similar features as the chancel with double plinth eaves course, gargoyles, battlements, buttresses, and three-light windows of standard

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...

in hollowed pointed-arched recesses. The

dates from 1476; it is visible as a

clerestorey In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

and includes three-light windows. 15th-century stained glass fragments are found in the east window tracery, and there are also late-17th-century windows resembling those of Low Ham Church. There is a small, almost triangular, arched, moulded doorway, an arched chamfered doorway, and a near semi-circular arched doorway with 19th-century

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

gates. Other features of note include a canopied statue niche with a 19th-century figure and an empty statue niches along the east wall.

Fittings and furniture

Choir stalls are of the 15th century, as are many of the

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...

bench ends. The pulpit and

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. ...

are also of the 19th century. There is a canopied

stoup A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation. It is used in the Catholic Church, Anglican Churches ...

, and a 12th-century lead-lined tulip bowl font on a stem with rope moulding. The church has five bells cast in ca.1500, 1641, 1763, 1795, and 1877. A brass engraving in the chancel floor is dedicated to the rector John Dyer (died 1499) who paid for the rebuilding of the chancel.

Churchyard

There are several Grade II listed structures, enlisted 7 February 1986, in and by the churchyard. The Gillet Monument is a late-18th-century

altar tomb A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a deceased person or persons, located within a Christian church. It can take various forms ranging from a simple commemorative plaque or mural tablet affixed to a wall, to a large and ...

with an

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

made of hamstone and it is located in the churchyard, southwest of the tower. The Swain Travers Monument is also located in the churchyard, just east of the chancel; it is a 19th-century chest tomb, a possibly reuse of an 18th-century tomb. An unidentified late-17th-century monument in the churchyard is located just south of the chancel. Adding to the setting of the churchyard which it abuts is a portion of the east boundary wall, to Ham Court, south of the church. Also historically important is the section of the south boundary wall with railings, south of the church, with cast iron railings and patterned with cross/

Fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

caps.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:High Ham, Saint Andrew Churches completed in 1476 15th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in South Somerset Grade I listed churches in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset