The Church of St Dubricius in

Porlock Porlock is a coastal village in Somerset, England, west of Minehead. At the 2011 census, the village had a population of 1,440. In 2017, Porlock had the highest percentage of elderly population in England, with over 40% being of pensionable ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England dates from the 13th century. The church has been designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

as a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The dedication is to

Dubricius Dubricius or Dubric (; Norman-French: ''Devereux''; c. 465 – c. 550) was a 6th-century British ecclesiastic venerated as a saint. He was the evangelist of Ergyng () (later Archenfield, Herefordshire) and much of south-east Wales. ...

(also known in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

as Dyfrig and in corrupt Norman-French as Devereux) (c. 465 – 550 or 612), a 6th-century

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, w ...

ecclesiastic venerated as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

, and may indicate he travelled to the area. The church stands on the site of an earlier church that may have dated from around 1120. Restoration work was undertaken in the 15th century. The spire was damaged in a storm of 1703. Further restoration was undertaken between 1888 and 1891. Within the church is the very fine late 15th century alabaster tomb of

John Harington, 4th Baron Harington John Harington, 4th Baron Harington (1384 – 11 April 1418) was an English people, English nobleman who inherited the title of Baron Harington of Aldingham in Furness, Lancashire. He was the son of Robert Harington, 3rd Baron Harington and Isabell ...

(1384–1418) who fought alongside King

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...

in France in 1417, and his wife Elizabeth Courtenay (died 1471), daughter of

Edward de Courtenay, 3rd Earl of Devon Edward de Courtenay, 3rd/11th Earl of Devon (c.1357 – 5 December 1419), known by the epithet the "Blind Earl", was the son of Sir Edward de Courtenay and Emeline Dawnay, and in 1377 succeeded his grandfather, Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of D ...

(died 1419). Elizabeth survived her first husband and married secondly

William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (12 or 31 August 1392 – 18 February 1461), was an English peerage, English nobleman and an important, powerful landowner in South West England, south-west England during the Late Middle Ages. Bonville's fa ...

(died 1461). The style of armour worn by Baron Harington is of the period c.1470, as was worn in the time of his widow's death, and is not therefore an accurate representation of the armour worn at the time of his death in 1418. The monument and effigies are believed to have been erected at the expense of Elizabeth's step-daughter the great heiress Cicely Bonville, Baroness Harington and Marchioness of Dorset (1460–1529), and are considered from their very high quality "more befitting a cathedral than a retired country church". At the back of the

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 ...

is a clock dating from the early 15th century which struck the tenor bell hourly. It has no hands or clock face. The clock was used until 1897 when a new clock was installed to celebrate

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

's jubilee. The parish is part of 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 Porlock and

Porlock Weir Porlock Weir is a harbour settlement approximately west of the inland village of Porlock, Somerset, England. "Porlock" comes from the Old English ''port'' '' loca'', meaning an enclosure near a harbour. Porlock Weir refers to the salmon stakes ...

with

Stoke Pero Luccombe or Luckham is a village and civil parish in the Exmoor, Exmoor National Park in the England, English county of Somerset. It at the foot of the moor's highest hill, the Dunkery Beacon, and is about one mile south of the A39 road between ...

Selworthy Selworthy is a small village and civil parish from Minehead in Somerset, England. It is located in the National Trust's Holnicote Estate on the northern fringes of Exmoor. The parish includes the hamlets of Bossington, Tivington, Lynch, Brand ...

and Luccombe within the

Exmoor Exmoor () is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simons ...

deanery.

References

External links

Porlock Parish website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porlock, Church of Saint Dubricius Church of England church buildings in West Somerset 13th-century church buildings in England Grade I listed churches in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in West Somerset

See also

References

External links