The Church of St Andrew in

Stogursey Stogursey is the name of a small village and civil parish in the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England. It is situated from Nether Stowey, and west of Bridgwater. The village is situated near the Bristol Channel, which bounds the parish on the no ...

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 , lor ...

, England dates from the early 12th century 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 I ...

. The church of St Andrew, now the parish church of Stogursey, was built as part of the Benedictine priory of Stogursey founded c. 1100-07 by William de Falaise, who first appears as the manorial lord in 1086. It is thought possible that his priory occupied an earlier religious site. It was granted to become a cell of the Abbey of Lonlay

Lonlay-l'Abbaye Lonlay-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France, situated midway between the towns of Domfront and Flers. It has a beautiful abbey and town square and is surrounded by walks and scenery, including the local viewpoin ...

(Orne) in Normandy, near to

Falaise Falaise may refer to: Places * Falaise, Ardennes, France * Falaise, Calvados, France ** The Falaise pocket was the site of a battle in the Second World War * La Falaise, in the Yvelines ''département'', France * The Falaise escarpment in Quebec ...

John de Courcy {{Infobox noble , image = Sir John de Courcy (1150-1219).jpg , caption = , alt = , more = no , succession = , reign = , predecessor = , successor = , ...

, a member of the priory's patron family seated at

Stogursey Castle Stogursey Castle is a medieval castle in Somerset, England. Most of the site is in ruins, but there is a thatched gatehouse used for holiday rental by the Landmark Trust. History Stogursey Castle was built to the south of the village of Stogurs ...

, who gained power in Ireland, around 1183 granted land in the

Ards Peninsula The Ards Peninsula () is a peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the north-east coast of Ireland. It separates Strangford Lough from the North Channel of the Irish Sea. Towns and villages on the peninsula include Donaghadee, Mi ...

in County Down to Stogursey Priory: on that land was founded, before 1204, the Priory of St. Andrews of the Ards (also called Blackabbey) which similarly became a cell of Lonlay-l'Abbaye. The church was enlarged around 1180 when the apses were demolished and 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. ...

extended. The priory was dissolved around 1440, and it became a parish church. It was further altered in the 15th century, the nave was extensively restored 1824 by Richard Carver and the chancel rebuilt between 1863 and 1865 by John Norton. The interior contains two Norman

fonts In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a " sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

. At floor level in the south arch is a Sanctuary Ring installed in the 13th century. In Medieval England criminals could find a Place of Refuge in a church for up to forty days and then admit their crime or stand trial. If they admitted their felony they would forfeit their possessions and go into exile. The sanctuary ring in the Church of St Andrew was installed 1243 after a murderer, John de Rechich, was granted sanctuary and then absconded before his trial which meant that the priory was liable for his fine. The tower holds six bells the oldest of which dates from 1611. The parish is part of the Quantock Coast

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

within the Quantock deanery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stogursey, Saint Andrew Church of England church buildings in West Somerset Grade I listed churches in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in West Somerset 12th-century church buildings in England

See also

References