St Luke's Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

church in Simonsbath,

Exmoor Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath ...

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. The church, which was designed by

Henry Clutton Henry Clutton (19 March 1819 – 27 June 1893)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Photograph , http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pis&GScid=1366392&GRid=12186732&PIgrid=12186732&PIcrid=1366392&PIpi=3000944& was an English arc ...

and built in 1855–56, has been 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 Ir ...

since 1959. In addition to being a place of worship, today the church is also used to hold concerts and other events. It is the venue of the annual Simonsbath Festival.

History

The small settlement of Simonsbath was established after Exmoor was purchased by John Knight from the

Commissioners of Woods and Forests The Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues were established in the United Kingdom in 1810 by merging the former offices of Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases and Surveyor General of the Land Revenues of the Crown in ...

in 1818. As the population grew in relation to increased local agricultural work and mining operations, eighteen residents of the estate put forward a petition in 1845 calling for a church to be built. At the time, the nearest church was the

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, ...

at Exford, approximately six miles from Simonsbath. St Luke's was built by the order of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, at a time when the estate was owned by Frederick Knight, who inherited it from his father in 1850.The North Devon Journal - Exmoor: Consecration of the new church at Simonsbath by the Bishop of Bath and Wells - 23 October 1856 - page 5 In 1818, as part of the

Inclosure Act The Inclosure Acts, which use an archaic spelling of the word now usually spelt "enclosure", cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and 1 ...

, a 12-acre plot of land was reserved by

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

for the construction of a church if future development of Exmoor required a place of worship for its inhabitants. An inspection of the proposed site was carried out by two Commissioners in May 1853 and plans for the church drawn up by

. The Commissioners of Woods and Forests also provided a grant of £1,815 towards the construction of the church and parsonage. Preliminary works began in May 1855 when the contractor, Mr. Amos Hole of Kingsbrompton, began preparing the site. However, owing to the low tender the builder had submitted to win the contract, Hole soon declared bankruptcy over its construction, with a debt of £587 owed to various local tradesmen. The contract then passed on to another local builder, John How, who also erected the parsonage. The completed church was consecrated by the

Bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of D ...

, Rev. Robert Eden, 3rd Baron Auckland, on 18 October 1856, who attended with the Chancellor of the Diocese and other local members of the clergy, including those of surrounding parishes. A local Wesleyan choir performed at the ceremony. With the opening of the church, Exmoor became its own parish.

Architecture

St Luke's is built of local

Blue Lias The Blue Lias is a geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassi ...

, with Bath stone dressings and a slate roof, in an Early English style. The bellcote at the western end of the church contains one bell. The interior is made up of a three-bay nave, chancel, south porch and vestry. The floor is laid with tessellated tiles, while the open roof, seats, pulpit and reading desk are all oak-stained. A stained glass window was later added to the church in remembrance of the local men killed in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Luke's Church, Simonsbath Churches in Somerset Grade II listed churches in Somerset Church of England church buildings in Somerset Grade II listed buildings in West Somerset Churches completed in 1856 Gothic Revival church buildings in England Henry Clutton buildings