Church of St Mary, Bishops Lydeard
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Church of St Mary in Bishops Lydeard,
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, dates from the 14th and 15th centuries 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 Irel ...
. In 1860–62 the church was extended by one bay and a
vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
, by Edward Jeboult of
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
, added. The tower, which was built around 1497, has pierced tracery battlements, pinnacles, set back buttresses terminating in pinnacles at the bell-storey, and pinnacles on the buttresses at each stage. On the stonework are hunky punks which have been severely damaged by the weather, however one appears to represent a
Sea serpent A sea serpent or sea dragon is a type of dragon sea monster described in various mythologies, most notably Mesopotamian (Tiamat), Judaeo-Christian (Leviathan), Greek (Cetus, Echidna, Hydra, Scylla), and Norse (Jörmungandr). Mythology and fo ...
. Between 2010 and 2011, an eleven-month restoration programme, focussing on the tower and costing £240,000, was undertaken by Sally Strachey Historic Conservation, under the supervision of Smith Gamblin Architects. Several of the tombs in the churchyard are of historical importance, as are two crosses, one dating from the 14th century, the other being the town's market cross which was moved to the churchyard in the 19th century.


See also

*
List of Grade I listed buildings in Taunton Deane Taunton Deane is a local government district with borough status in the English county of Somerset. In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, ...
*
List of towers in Somerset The Somerset towers, church towers built in the 14th to 16th centuries, have been described as among England's finest contributions to medieval art. The paragraphs and descriptions below describe features of some of these towers. The organization ...
*
List of ecclesiastical parishes in the Diocese of Bath and Wells The ecclesiastical parishes within the Diocese of Bath and Wells cover the majority of the English county of Somerset and small areas of Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The episcopal seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is in the ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishops Lydeard, Saint Mary 14th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in Taunton Deane Grade I listed churches in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in Taunton Deane