The Anglican Church of St Mary the Virgin in Nether Stowey in the English county of

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 ...

has a 15th-century tower, with the remainder of the church being rebuilt in 1851 by Richard Carver and

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 " ...

. It is as a Grade II*

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 ...

History

Nether Stowey had a small church by the 12th century with a three-

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, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a nar ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

. A gallery was added in the early 17th century. In 1791 a failed attempt was made to enlarge the church, but in 1814 a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...

was added.A P Baggs, R J E Bush and M C Siraut, 'Parishes: Nether Stowey', in A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 5, ed. R W Dunning (London, 1985), pp. 190-200. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol5/pp190-200 ccessed 30 April 2017 The parish is part of the Quantock Villages

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 ...

Aisholt Spaxton is a small village and civil parish on the Quantocks in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England. History Spaxton was part of the hundred of Cannington. The modern parish includes the ancient parishes of Aisholt and Ch ...

, Enmore,

Goathurst Goathurst is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Somerset, around 3 miles from the town of Bridgwater. The parish includes the hamlets of Andersfield and Huntstile. The village is on the route of the Samaritans Way South Wes ...

, Nether Stowey,

Over Stowey Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England * Over, Cheshire, England * Over, South Gloucestershire, England *Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England **Over Bridge * Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by P ...

and

Spaxton Spaxton is a small village and civil parish on the Quantocks in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England. History Spaxton was part of the hundred of Cannington. The modern parish includes the ancient parishes of Aisholt and Char ...

within the

Diocese of Bath and Wells The Diocese of Bath and Wells is a diocese in the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England. The diocese covers the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is located in the ...

Architecture

The red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

church now has a nave, north and south

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, pa ...

s and a

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. ...

with attached

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 ...

. The three-stage west tower is supported by diagonal

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es and decorated with

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

s and prominent

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry wa ...

s. The tower contains six bells which were recast in 1914.

References

{{reflist Grade II* listed buildings in Sedgemoor Grade II* listed churches in Somerset Church of England church buildings in Sedgemoor

History

Architecture

See also

References