The

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

St Andrew's Church is on the outskirts of

Chew Stoke Chew Stoke is a small village and civil parish in the affluent Chew Valley, in Somerset, England, about south of Bristol and 10 miles north of Wells. It is at the northern edge of the Mendip Hills, a region designated by the United Kingdom as ...

, within the English county of Somerset. The church, parts of which date from the 15th century, is a Grade II* listed building. The stone church's three-stage tower has six bells, three of which were made by the local Bilbie family, to whom a redundant bell at the back of the church serves as a memorial. The interior of the church is largely

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

and includes 156 angels in wood and stone. The churchyard includes graves and memorials to local residents and the base of a 14th-century cross. The remains of the cross from Morteon were moved to Chew Stoke when their original site was flooded during the construction of

Chew Valley Lake Chew Valley Lake () is a reservoir in Chew Stoke, Chew Valley, Somerset, England. It is the fifth-largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom, with an area of . The lake, created in the early 1950s, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956. ...

in the 1950s. The Parish of Chew Stoke is within the

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 ...

of Chew Stoke with

Nempnett Thrubwell Nempnett Thrubwell is a small village and civil parish in dairying country on the western edge of Bath and North East Somerset, in the county of Somerset, England. It is about 15 km south-west of Bristol. The parish, which has a population ...

and forms part of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Two rectories are associated with the church, one dating from 1529 and both now private residences.

Architecture

The church was constructed in the 15th century in the perpendicular style. The tower remains largely unchanged, but the main body underwent extensive Victorian restoration and the addition of the north isle in 1862. The church is built of local red sandstone and limestone topped by lead roofs. It includes a nave, four bay north aisle and three bay south aisle, chancel and south chapel. The tower, which was built around 1475, has three stages supported by diagonal buttresses. Its top is surmounted by a paneled parapet and an ornate crown with an elaborate spirelet over the stair

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

, with two tiers of arcading. The church was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1960.

Bells

The oldest bell in the tower dates from 1698 and was cast by the Bilbie family who were bell founders and clockmakers based initially in the village. The Bilbie family produced more than 1,350 bells, which are hung in churches all over the West Country. Supplies of the tin and copper used to make

bell metal Bell metal or bell bronze is an alloy used for making bells and related instruments, such as cymbals. It is a form of bronze with a higher tin content, usually in approximately a 4:1 ratio of copper to tin (typically, 78% copper, 22% tin by mas ...

were probably obtained from brass foundries in Kelston and Bristol. The metal was melted in a wood-burning furnace to over and then poured into a mould made from

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

, or foundry mud, from the

River Chew The River Chew is a small river in England that flows for some through the North Somerset countryside to form the Chew Valley before merging with the River Avon. The spring from which the Chew rises is just upstream from Chewton Mendip. The ...

. Others in St Andrew's are from the same maker are dated 1718 and 1731. The bells were tuned and re-hung into a new frame in 1908 and again in 1996 with a new bell from John Taylor's foundry in Loughborough replacing the treble. The redundant bell is now on display at the back of the church as a memorial to the Bilbies.

Interior

The

square

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 ...

and

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

match, but are now largely whitewashed, as is much of the rest of the church. Just inside the porch, on the left of the church door, is a stone figure holding an anchor which was moved to the church from Walley Court with the flooding of

. There is an unconfirmed story that this was given to the Gilbert family, then living at the court by Queen Elizabeth I. It is possible that it was originally from the site of a nunnery within the parish which was closed with the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536. Cschurchanchor

The inside of the church is decorated with 156 angels in wood and stone. The church interior also contains a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

plaque commemorating the eleven people from the village who died in the First World War and six from the Second World War. There is also a

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 ...

window showing a saint with a sword standing on a snake and crossed flags, commemorating those from World War II. Several other stained glass windows date from the Victorian era. The window in the tower was donated by a London goldsmith named Mattheson to commemorate the rebuilding of the church in 1863. The east window represents events in the life of

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

. One of the altars has, in the past, been dedicated to Wilgefortis a female

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

of popular religious imagination whose legend arose in the 14th century, and whose distinguishing feature is a large beard. There are three wooden chests, two of which date from the 20th century, but the oldest is probably from the 16th century and was a "poor man's chest." These were common in English parishes following the decree by Queen Elizabeth I that each parish provide a strong chest with three keys to keep safe custody of alms for the poor.

Churchyard memorials

The reconstructed Moreton Cross was moved into the churchyard when

was flooded in the 1950s. The Grade II* listed base of a cross shaft in the churchyard, about southwest of the tower, is thought to date from the 14th century, as is the Webb monument in the churchyard. The churchyard gate, at the southeast entrance, bears a lamp which was provided by public subscription to commemorate Queen Victoria's Jubilee of 1897, itself a Grade II listed structure. The churchyard contains the

Commonwealth war grave The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...

of a Second World War airman.

Old rectory

The village hall is at the end of Church Lane, opposite

The Rectory The Rectory, also known as Dyer's Store and Plain Dealing, is a historic home located near Keene, Albemarle County, Virginia. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is th ...

which is believed to have been built in 1529 by the rector, Sir John Barry, (Rector 1524–46). It has undergone substantial renovations including the addition of a

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

for the Rev. W. P. Wait, which has since been removed and further alterations in about 1876 for Rev. J. Ellershaw. The building has an ornate south front with carvings of shields bearing the coat of arms of the St Loe family, who were once chief landowners in the area, alone or impaled with arms of Fitzpane, Ancell, de la Rivere and Malet. It is Grade II* listed. In 1945 it started to be used again as the rectory, for the parish. The parish is within the

of Chew Stoke with

and forms part of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. The rectory was sold by the church in 2008 and is now a private dwelling.

New rectory

The new rectory was built by the Reverend John Ellershaw in the 1870s. The last rector to occupy it was Lionel St. Clair Waldy from 1907 to 1945. It was then bought by Douglas Wills who donated it and the rectory field to

Winford Winford is a village and civil parish within the Chew Valley, Somerset, England. It is within the unitary authority of North Somerset about south of Bristol. The parish has a population of 2,153. The parish includes the village of Felton whi ...

Hospital as a

convalescent home A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

for 16 children, and later used as a nurses' home before being sold for private use. Primarily an orthopaedic hospital, Winford was built in 1930, and became a part-military and part-civilian hospital. Wards A to D were for civilian use, while wards E to K, added to the hospital in 1940, were for the treatment of service and civilian war casualties. The hospital closed in 1996, and the rectory is now divided into several residential units.

References

External links

Chew Stoke village web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chew Stoke, Saint Andrew Church of England church buildings in Bath and North East Somerset 15th-century church buildings in England Grade II* listed churches in Somerset Grade II* listed buildings in Bath and North East Somerset