St Bartholomew's Church, Crewkerne
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The Church of St Bartholomew in
Crewkerne Crewkerne ( ) is a town and electoral ward in south Somerset, England, southwest of Yeovil and east of Chard. The civil parish of West Crewkerne includes the hamlets of Coombe, Woolminstone and Henley, and borders the county of Dorset to the s ...
,
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 15th century and has been designated 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 ...
.
St Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...
's Parish Church stands on high ground to the west of the town. The first
Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
church was founded before the end of the 9th century as a "minster", or main church of a Saxon royal estate that included an area which later became the parishes of
Seaborough Seaborough is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southwest England. It is sited in the valley of the River Axe and lies approximately south of Crewkerne in Somerset. The parish was historically in Somerset, part of th ...
,
Wayford Wayford is a village and civil parish on the River Axe, south-west of Crewkerne, in Somerset, England. History The parish was part of the hundred of Crewkerne. Wayford Manor House was rebuilt around 1600 by Charles Daubeney, probably with ...
and Misterton. This church was replaced after the
Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
with a larger stone cruciform building, with a central tower. This was almost completely rebuilt and enlarged in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. This is, for the most part, the church building visible today. It is an excellent example of the
Perpendicular style Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...
with many unusual and individual features. These include the west front, 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 ...
, the six-light
aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...
windows and the Tudor-style chapels and windows in the north east corner. The building material is golden-coloured Ham Hill stone, quarried a few miles north of Crewkerne. There is a notable pair of 'green man' carvings within the church. No major alterations have been made since the Reformation in the 1530s and 1540s, but there have been many changes to the interior to accommodate various phases of
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
worship. Among these are an oven used for baking communion bread in the south east corner of the north chapel. During the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, considerable damage was done including the destruction of nearly all of the
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
.
William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, Zeeland, Lordship of Utrecht, Utrec ...
worshipped in the church following his landing in the
Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
of 1689. By the early 19th century, all the medieval furnishings, except the Norman
font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...
had disappeared. New pews were made and the west galleries were added in 1808–11. The latest restoration that has left the church interior visible today, took place in the late 19th century; it was more sympathetic to the church's architectural character than many
Victorian restoration The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive wikt:refurbish, refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England church (building), churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century Victorian era, re ...
s. At this time, the central section of the west gallery was removed to reveal the great west window and the organ was relocated to the south transept. The pews date from around 1900 and have attractive carved bench-ends. Christ Church, a
chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...
to St Bartholomew's, was built on South Street in 1852–54 to the designs of
James Mountford Allen James Mountford Allen (14 August 1809, Crewkerne, Somerset – 1883, St Pancras, London) was an English architect. Allen was the son of Rev. John Allen, vicar of Bleddington, Gloucestershire, and formerly the master of Crewkerne Grammar Schoo ...
. The church was declared redundant in 1969, and demolished in 1975 to make way for the residential Christchurch Court.


Former grammar school

The church hall and parish office in Abbey Street, a building which stands immediately north of the church, dates from 1636. It was used by
Crewkerne Grammar School Crewkerne Grammar School was a grammar school in the town of Crewkerne in the English county of Somerset. History The school was founded in 1499 by John de Combe, a precentor of Exeter Cathedral and former vicar of Crewkerne, who had been bor ...
(founded 1499) from then until 1882,Parish Church Hall (old Grammar School), Crewkerne
BritishListedBuildings.co.uk, accessed 21 September 2022
when the school moved to a new building called de Combe House on Mount Pleasant.


See also

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List of Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset South Somerset is a former local government district in the English county of Somerset. The South Somerset district occupies an area of , stretching from its borders with Devon and Dorset to the edge of the Somerset Levels. The district had a p ...
*
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 ceremonial counties of England, English county of Somerset and small areas of Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The cathedra, episcopal seat ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crewkerne, Saint Bartholomew 15th-century church buildings in England
Saint Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...
Church of England church buildings in South Somerset Grade I listed churches in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset