The Church of All Saints in

Langport Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish, which covers only part of the town, has a population of 1,081. Langport is contiguous with Huish Episcopi, a separate ...

, Somerset,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, has 12th-century origins but was rebuilt in the late 15th century. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated 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 ...

Architecture

The

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 ...

square tower, which is in three stages, dates from around 1455, but the top section was rebuilt in 1833. New aisles were added in 1499. It has a number of interesting gargoyles known locally as ' hunky punks'. The portcullis in the stonework above the

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

s is from the coat of arms of

Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby Lady Margaret Beaufort (usually pronounced: or ; 31 May 1441/43 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late fifteenth century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch. A descendant of ...

who was

Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

of Eastover in the Parish of Langport. Two of the hunky punks are believed to represent Margaret Beaufort and her son

Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beauf ...

. The East window of the chancel contains a set of late 15th century glass depicting various saints, appropriate to the dedication "All Saints". Although restored in the 19th century, it remains one of the best preserved

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

windows in Somerset. Additionally, it is unusual in that the window contains a full set of glass from the same period.

Usage

The church is used for occasional parish services, meaning its congregation has been merged with nearby St Mary's Huish, mother church of the Parish of Huish Episcopi cum Langport. It is now a

redundant church A redundant church, now referred to as a "closed church", is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused church ...

in the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. The church was declared redundant on 1 July 1994, and was

vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property is acquired by some person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vested right to an ...

in the Trust on 28 June 1995. The Trust has carried out extensive rebuilding work. In 2011, the

and the community of Langport started an innovative regeneration project at All Saints church. Now the Regeneration Task-force at the Churches Conservation Trust is working in partnership with a group of local young people aged 16–25 to regenerate All Saints church with a new use. The group of young people is called the 'New Saints'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langport, All Saints 15th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in South Somerset English Gothic architecture in Somerset Grade I listed churches in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust Former churches in Somerset All Saints

Architecture

Usage

See also

References