The Anglican Church of St John in
Cutcombe
Cutcombe is a village and civil parish south of Minehead and north of Dulverton straddling the ridge between Exmoor and the Brendon Hills in Somerset. It has a population of 361.
The parish includes the hamlet of Wheddon Cross which is one of t ...
,
Somerset, England was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. It is a Grade II*
listed building.
History
It is likely there was a church on the site from the early 12th century when it belonged to
Bruton Priory
Bruton Abbey in Bruton, Somerset was founded as a house of Canons regular#Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, Augustinian canons in about 1127, and became an abbey in 1511, shortly before its dissolution in 1539. It was endowed with manors, chur ...
,
after previously falling within the remit of
Glastonbury Abbey.
The date of construction of the current building is not known, however the tower is from the 13th century while the north
aisle is dated to the 13th or early 14th century. In 1713 part of the north aisle was rebuilt and the whole building given a
Victorian restoration in 1862 by
Charles Edmund Giles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...
.
The Rev. John Myers King was vicar here in the 19th century and he had a multi-lingual daughter,
Alice King who was blind by the age of seven. She went on write a dozen novels and to lead bible classes and Sunday Schools for up to seventy men and boys.
The organ was made by
Henry Willis
Henry Willis (27 April 1821 – 11 February 1901), also known as "Father" Willis, was an English organ player and builder, who is regarded as the foremost organ builder of the Victorian era. His company Henry Willis & Sons remains in busin ...
and brought to Cutcombe from the Methodist church in
Hucknall,
Nottinghamshire.
Further restoration of the church was carried out after £150,000 was raised in 2001.
[
The parish is part of the Exmoor ]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 Diocese of Bath and Wells.
Architecture
The stone building has a slate roof. It consists of a chancel, four-bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
nave, three-bay north aisle, two-bay organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
chamber, four-bay south aisle and a two-bay south chapel with a porch. The two-stage crenellated west tower is supported by diagonal buttresses.font
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 ...
with a Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
base of Purbeck Marble
Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone.
Geology
Strat ...
with an Italian marble bowl.stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
by Clayton and Bell.
See also
* List of ecclesiastical parishes in the Diocese of Bath and Wells
References
{{reflist
Grade II* listed buildings in West Somerset
Grade II* listed churches in Somerset
