St Mary's Church in Portbury,

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, is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church close to the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

. It is 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 dates from the 12th century, with alteration and extension in the 13th and restoration between 1870 and 1875. It has a Norman doorway and a grand fifteenth-century porch. There is a Berkeley Chantry chapel with early

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

family burials dating from around 1190. There are a number of elderly

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus '' Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus ...

trees in the surrounding graveyard with one reputed to be 900 years old. The Church was extensively renovated in the 19th century, when a cast-iron heating system was installed. 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 ...

Pill Pill or The Pill may refer to: Drugs * Pill (pharmacy), referring to anything small for a specific dose of medicine * "The Pill", a general nickname for the combined oral contraceptive pill Film and television * ''The Pill'' (film), a 2011 fil ...

, Portbury and

Easton in Gordano Easton in Gordano () is a village in Somerset, England, about northwest of Bristol city centre. It is part of the civil parish of Pill and Easton-in-Gordano and within the unitary authority of North Somerset. In 2011 the population of the par ...

within the Portishead deanery. The tower houses six bells hung in the English style of change ringing, the heaviest being the tenor at 21cwt or in modern terms 1 ton. In 2012 work was carried out in the tower to reinstate the floor between the ringers and the bells. Like most bells in the area, they were locally cast by local founders. Many of the bells in this tower were made by the

Bilbie family The Bilbie family were bell founders and clockmakers based initially in Chew Stoke, Somerset and later at Cullompton, Devon in south-west England from the late 17th century to the early 19th century. Their importance to the local economy and i ...

Chew Stoke Chew Stoke is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the affluent Chew Valley, in Somerset, England, about south of Bristol and 10 miles north of Wells, Somerset, Wells. It is at the northern edge of the Mendip Hills, ...

. In 2013 the church was added to the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

because of water damage to the plaster ceiling.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portbury, Saint Mary Church of England church buildings in North Somerset Grade I listed churches in Somerset 12th-century church buildings in England Structures on the Heritage at Risk register in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in North Somerset

See also

References