All Saints' Church is the parish church in Wraxall,

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 has been dedicated "to all the Saints". The building is surrounded by an extensive

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

. The present building was raised in the 14th century, with

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and t ...

and

bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

s being added in later centuries. The church has been designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

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 ...

. Parish registers survive from 1562, and include examples of the

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

of black slaves. There are painted stone figures of Sir Edmond Gorges and his wife in the

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 ...

. The nearby rectory was built in the 17th century. The West Tower, is high, and contains eight bells, three of which date from 1705. The clock face was added in 1730. The large churchyard contains several monuments to the Gibbs family which owned the nearby

Tyntesfield Tyntesfield is a Victorian Gothic Revival house and estate near Wraxall, North Somerset, England. The house is a Grade I listed building named after the Tynte baronets, who had owned estates in the area since about 1500. The location was form ...

Estate, which has recently been purchased by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

following the death of

Baron Wraxall Baron Wraxall, of Clyst St George in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1928 for the Conservative politician George Gibbs. , the title is held by his grandson, the fourth Baron, who succeed ...

History

The southern doorway of the present building was part of a previous building of Norman date. It appears that portions of the chancel, north aisle and south porch were rebuilt at that time. The tower, roofs and windows were apparently rebuilt and enlarged in the fifteenth century. Members of the

Gorges family The Gorges family was an Anglo-Norman family with lands in the southwest of England. They obtained the manors of Wraxall, Somerset and Bradpole in Dorset. Holdings of the family The family of Gorges derived its name from a hamlet in Lower Norm ...

, who were lords of this manor for some 400 years, are buried under the building's floors, although most of their headstones have been moved or destroyed. In 2006 parish leaders began a project to convert an abandoned school building on the grounds (the Old Georgian School, which opened in 1809) into a new meeting room and parish office, with restrooms, handicapped facilities and a kitchen. The project was estimated to cost £200,000 and was slated to begin in 2009.http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/wraxall/Fundraising-auction-Saints-Church-Wraxall/article-430737-detail/article.html This Is Bristol (website) accessed 21 August 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wraxall, All Saints 14th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in North Somerset Grade I listed churches in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in North Somerset

History

See also

References