West Somerset Generation
(Including Kingston St Mary, about 1507; Hatch Beauchamp, about 1509; Staple Fitzpaine, perhaps 1513; Isle Abbots, about 1517; Huish Episcopi, about 1524)
| Name of church | Photograph | Listed building grade | Year tower built | Height | Location | Description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Church of St John the Baptist | A !I | c. 1509 | Hatch Beauchamp 50°59′08″N 2°59′25″W / 50.9856°N 2.9902°W / 50.9856; -2.9902 (Church of St John the Baptist, Hatch Beauchamp) |
A crenellated 3-stage tower. It displays crocketed pinnacles, a pierced parapet with quatrefoils and arcades in the merlons and gargoyles. This particular church has diagonal buttresses to support the tower whereas in other churches within this group angle buttresses are the norm.The buttresses, which finish in the belfry stage, support small detached shafts which rise upwards to form the outside subsidiary pinnacles of each corner cluster. | |||
| Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary | A !I | c. 1524 | 100 feet (30 m) | Huish Episcopi 51°02′09″N 2°49′05″W / 51.035833°N 2.818056°W / 51.035833; -2.818056 (Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Huish Episcopi) |
12th century origins and also serves nearby Langport. Built in blue lias with golden hamstone decoration, the church is most noted for its classic Somerset tower, deemed to be an architectural companion piece to St. Martin's church in Kingsbury Episcopi. St Mary's tower dates from around 1500 and was built in 4 stages. It is extensively embellished with pinnacles and quatrefoil panel bands. In the north east corner is an octagonal stair turret which reaches the full height of the tower. The Huish Episcopi tower is depicted on the 9p stamp issued in June 1972. | ||
| Church of St. Mary the Virgin | A !I | c. 1517 | Isle Abbots 50°59′02″N 2°55′21″W / 50.983889°N 2.9225°W / 50.983889; -2.9225 (Church of St Mary the Virgin, Isle Abbotts) |
A tower of 4 stages. The embattled parapet is pierced by quatrefoils, the merlons pierced with lancet openings. The very large corner pinnacles have attached secondary pinnacles, and intermediate pinnacles to each side. The crocketted niches to each face of the tower have surviving medieval figures, to West the Risen Christ stepping from His sarcophagus, the Blessed Virgin with Bambino, St Peter and St Paul; to south St George, St Catherine, St Margaret; to east St John Baptist, St Clement; to north St Michael. The wealth of architectural detail and sculpture has required specific approaches to the methodology of repair and protection using lime based materials. | |||
| Church of St Mary | A !I | c. 1507 | Kingston St Mary 51°03′41″N 3°06′37″W / 51.0615°N 3.1103°W / 51.0615; -3.1103 (Church of St Mary, Kingston St Mary) |
Dates from the 13th century but the tower is from the early 16th century and was reroofed in 1952, with further restoration 1976-8. It is a 3-stage crenellated tower, with crocketed pinnacles with bracketed pinnacles set at angles, decorative pierced merlons, and set back buttresses crowned with pinnacles. The decorative "hunky-punks" are perched high on the corners. There may be so named because the carvings are squatting on their Hunkers- as in one hunkers i.e. squatting and punch meaning short and thick. They actually serve no function unlike gargoyles which carry off water. | |||
| Church of St Peter | A !I | c. 1513 | Staple Fitzpaine 50°57′32″N 3°02′59″W / 50.9588°N 3.0496°W / 50.9588; -3.0496 (Church of St Peter, Staple Fitzpaine) |
Norman in origin, and has a Norman doorway reset in the south aisle. The chancel dates from the 14th century. The north aisle was added and the church refenestrated in the 15th century. The tower dates from about 1500, however the south porch and vestry are much more recent dating from 1841. The crenellated 3-stage tower, has merlons pierced with trefoil headed arches set on a quatrefoil pierced parapet. St. Peter's has six bells. The oldest dates from 1480. There are four more original bells. In 1803 one of the bells was made by Thomas Castleman Bilbie of Cullompton, one of the Bilbie family of bell founders and clock makers. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Somerset Towers
Famous quotes containing the words west, somerset and/or generation:
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And the door stood open at our feast,
When there passed us a woman with the West in her eyes,
And a man with his back to the East.”
—Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861–1907)
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—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965)
“I call it our collective inheritance of isolation. We inherit isolation in the bones of our lives. It is passed on to us as sure as the shape of our noses and the length of our legs. When we are young, we are taught to keep to ourselves for reasons we may not yet understand. As we grow up we become the “men who never cry” and the “women who never complain.” We become another generation of people expected not to bother others with our problems.”
—Paula C. Lowe (20th century)