St Michael and All Angels’ Church is a

Grade II* listed 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, H ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

East Coker East Coker is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its nearest town is Yeovil, to the north. The village has a population of 1,667. The parish includes the hamlets and areas of North Coker, Burton, Holywell, Coker Marsh, Darvole, ...

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 ...

History

The church dates from the late 12th century, but much of the surviving fabric is 15th century. In the 14th century the rector was appointed by the Lord of the Manor at the adjoining Coker Court. The window of the asouth transept includes the coat of arms of the Helyar family who were the local lords, including William Helyar who became archdeacon of

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

and built the Helyar Almshouses. The central tower was replaced in 1791 by a north east tower designed by Joseph Radford. The brass eagle lectern was dedicated on Christmas Eve in 1898 in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

's reign. The church is noted as the resting place of the poet

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

whose ashes were interred in 1965.

Incumbents

Rectors up to Peter Falewell, after that, vicars

Organ

The pipe organ is by E. Lifford and Co of

Yeovil Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...

. A specification of the organ can be found on the

National Pipe Organ Register The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issue ...

Bells

The tower contains a ring of 8 bells, all dating from 1770 or 1771 and cast by Thomas II Bilbie of 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 ...

Parish status

The church is in a joint parish with *St Mary's Church, East Chinnock *St Mary's Church, Hardington Mandeville *St Roch's Church, Pendomer *All Saints’ Church, Closworth * St Martin of Tours' Church, West Coker * All Saints' Church, Sutton Bingham

References

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