The Church of St Mary in central
Yatton
Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located south-west of Bristol. Its population in 2011 was 7,552. The parish includes Clav ...
,
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 often called the Cathedral of the Moors due to its size and grandeur in relation to the village. It has been designated by
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
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 ...
.
While the current church was constructed in the 14th century, it is likely that a previous church was located on the same site. The chapel, which was added in 1496, and various other alterations and expansions of the church have survived since 1445.
The central tower, which was built around 1400,
has three stages with diagonal weathered
buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...
es 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
pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...
s. There is a south-east hexagonal stair
turret
Turret may refer to:
* Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building
* Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon
* Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...
rising above the parapet with panelled sides to the top, and an open cusped parapet.
Unusually for Somerset, a
Dundry stone steeple was built in 1455–1456. In 1595 freemasons were engaged to take down the spire and reduce it to its present dimensions. There is a ring of bells within the tower. The tower was damaged by fire in 1991,
resulting in the fourth bell having to be recast.
The 15th century
Old Rectory is also a Grade I listed building.
See also
*
List of Grade I listed buildings in North Somerset
*
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 ...
*
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yatton, Saint Mary
14th-century church buildings in England
Church of England church buildings in North Somerset
Grade I listed churches in Somerset
Grade I listed buildings in North Somerset