The parish Church of St Mary in Luccombe,

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 has a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

dating from about 1300, with the nave and tower being added around 1450. It 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 ...

. It was built by John Maris of

Stogursey Stogursey is a small village and civil parish in the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England. It is situated from Nether Stowey, and west of Bridgwater. The village is situated near the Bristol Channel, which bounds the parish on the north. The ...

. The chancel is the earliest part of the church dating from around 1300. In 1530 the aisle was added, and in 1752-1756 a gallery added which was removed in 1840 when the church was further

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

and the vestry added.

Architecture

The parish church of St Mary had its origins in around 1300 when the chancel was built. 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 tower date from around 1450, and the

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, ...

was added in about 1530. A gallery was installed between 1752 and 1756, but this was removed when the church was restored in 1840, at which time the vestry was added. The building is constructed of

roughcast Roughcast and pebbledash are durable coarse plaster surfaces used on outside walls. They consists of lime and sometimes cement mixed with sand, small gravel and often pebbles or shells. The materials are mixed into a slurry and are then throw ...

stone, except for the vestry which is squared red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, and the tower which is random rubble red sandstone. The roofs are slated. The plan consists of a four-bay nave and a four-bay south aisle, a chancel, a northeast vestry, a north porch and a west tower. The tower is built in three stages and topped with crenellations. It has

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...

s and string courses, but no buttresses. The tower houses a ring of six bells of which five were cast in 1759. The interior of the church is whitewashed with a barrel-vaulted roof, and a Perpendicular-style pointed tower arch. The interior includes a Jacobean pulpit and chair and a medieval rood screen. The Anglican parish is part of the benefice of

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 ...

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 archdeaconry of Taunton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luccombe, Saint Mary Buildings and structures completed in 1450 Churches completed in the 1450s 15th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in West Somerset Grade I listed churches in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in West Somerset

Architecture

See also

References