The Church of St Mary in

Kingston St Mary Kingston St Mary is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated at the southern end of the Quantock Hills north of Taunton. The village has a population of 921. The parish includes the hamlets of Yarford which includes the grade II Cutl ...

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 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 ...

. 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 ...

and arcades date from the 13th century. The tower is from the early 16th century and was reroofed in 1952, with further restoration 1976–1978. It is a 3-stage crenellated tower, with

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the Old French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of a crocket to a bishop's Shepherd's crook, ...

ed pinnacles with bracketed pinnacles set at angles, decorative pierced merlons, and set back buttresses crowned with pinnacles. The decorative "

hunky punk A hunky punk is a grotesque carving on the side of a building, especially Late Gothic churches. Such features are especially numerous in Somerset (in the West Country of England). Though similar in appearance to a gargoyle, a hunky punk is pur ...

s" are perched high on the corners. There may be so named because the carvings are squatting on their hunkers – as in one hunkers i.e. squatting and punch meaning short and thick. They actually serve no function unlike gargoyles which carry off water. The tower, including pinnacles, is 89 feet (27 metres) high. The interior of the church includes a

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 ...

from the 16th century, and the

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, accesse ...

from 1742. The carved bench ends date from the 1520s. The tomb of John de la Warre the 4th

Earl De La Warr Earl De La Warr ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1761 for John West, 7th Baron De La Warr. The Earl holds the subsidiary titles of Viscount Cantelupe (1761) in the Peerage of Great Britain, Baron De La Warr (15 ...

, who fought at the

Battle of Poitiers The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19September 1356 between a Kingdom of France, French army commanded by King John II of France, King JohnII and an Kingdom of England, Anglo-Gascony, Gascon force under Edward the Black Prince, Edward, the ...

in 1356, is made from

Purbeck Marble Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone. Geology S ...

and dominates the south aisle. It includes a wide selection of

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 ...

. The churchyard includes tombs of the Warre family who owned nearby Hestercombe House. 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 Kingston St Mary with Broomfield within the

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

deanery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingston St Mary, Saint Mary 13th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in Taunton Deane Grade I listed churches in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in Taunton Deane

See also

References