The Anglican Church of St Francis in

Stawell, Somerset Stawell is a village and civil parish north-east of Bridgwater, and north-west of Moorlinch, in Somerset, England. The civil parish includes the village of Sutton Mallet. Governance The parish council has responsibility for local issues, in ...

, England was built in the 13th century. It is 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 Irel ...

History

Construction of the church started in the 13th century on the site of a chapel which had been controlled by

Glastonbury Abbey Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction. The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It w ...

. The remains of an arcade in the north aisle is believed to come from about 1300. The fabric of the building was added to during the 14th and 15th centuries. It underwent

Victorian restoration The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. It was not the same proc ...

in 1874. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of Moorlinch with Stanwell and Sutton Mallett is within the benefice of Middlezoy with Othery, Moorlinch and Greinton which is part of 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 stone church has a two- bay

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-type ...

and

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. Ov ...

with a short west tower. The 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 ( ...

es. Inside the church is an octagonal font from the 15th century.

References

{{reflist Grade II* listed buildings in Sedgemoor Grade II* listed churches in Somerset