The Church of St Mary in

Moorlinch Moorlinch is a village and civil parish where the Polden Hills meet the Somerset Levels in Somerset, England. History The village was known as ''Mirieling'' in 971 and the name is believed to come from the Saxon ''myrge'' and ''hlinc'' meaning ...

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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 church sits on the southern flank of the

Polden Hills The Polden Hills in Somerset, England, are a long, low ridge, extending for , and separated from the Mendip Hills, to which they are nearly parallel, by a marshy tract known as the Somerset Levels. They are now bisected at their western end by ...

. The earliest mention of a church at Moorlinch is a charter of

King Ine Ine or Ini (died in or after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of what is now southern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla of Wessex ...

in 725 and then in one of King Edgar in 971, although the authenticity of these documents has been challenged. In 1262 it was acquired 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 wa ...

in 1262. The church includes a 14th-century

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 ...

, and a 12th-century

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 ...

with a south porch. The

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 ...

dates from the 12th century, while the pulpit is Jacobean, but made from wood taken from earlier perpendicular panels. The organ dates from 1800 and was made by James Davis. The west tower contains six bells the oldest being the tenor which was cast in 1651 by Thomas Purdue of Closworth. 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 ...

Middlezoy Middlezoy is a village and civil parish on the Somerset Levels in Somerset, England. Situated between the two other villages of Westonzoyland and Othery and is about six miles from the town of Bridgwater which is on the tidal river Parret. Histo ...

and Othery and Moorlinch with Stawell and Sutton Mallet, within the

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

deanery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moorlinch, Church of Saint Mary 13th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in Sedgemoor Grade I listed churches in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in Sedgemoor

See also

References