The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
Somerset (now)
Parish church
The manorial hamlet of Laverton lies in rich farmland 8.5 miles S of Bath, about halfway between Frome and Norton St Philip. It is in a dip: the N-facing side is a valley of the Hennambridge Brook, a tributary of the river Frome. The manor house (now belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall) and church of St Mary are adjacent. The church, which is built of rubble, consists of an unusual W end, which Pevsner finds to be reminiscent of a westwerk (described as a tower in the HE listing), nave, N porch, chancel and vestry. It is mostly of the 11thc, with 15thc alterations. There was a restoration in 1859. The Romanesque elements consist of N (and possibly S) nave doorways and two windows in the western section.
Parish church
The small settlement of Staple Fitzpaine is sited near where a road (unclassified but well-used) running roughly NNW/SSE between Taunton to Chard crosses a stream running WSW/ENE down from the Blackdown Hills. The former mill using that watercourse is sited a very short distance NW of the crossroads at the village centre. Crossing the Taunton-Chard road at that crossroads, a lane runs roughly SW-NE, parallel to the stream, along the S side of the shallow valley from Staple Hill towards lower ground to the NE and major communication lines of road and rail.
Emphasising the political standing of the Count of Mortain, the parish still includes (at its SE corner) his castle, Castle Neroche. By area, the parish is the second largest in the county, but by demography it is diminutive, probably having changed very little over time. Staple Fitzpaine has its own manor-house, adjacent on the N side of St Peter’s church. Resting on the large block of Blue Lias which stretches from here NE far into the central area of the county, the village has a good source of favoured building-stone. Inevitably, the area is almost entirely agricultural in character.
The church, which consists of a W tower, a nave with N and S aisles, a S porch, avestry and a chancel is Norman in origin but has been largely rebuilt. The Romanesque S doorway has been reset in the S aisle.
Parish church
The compact village of Edington lies on the N side of the Polden Hills on a lower slope in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, about 8 miles W of Glastonbury. Edington was a chapelry of Moorlinch until it became a separate parish in 1863. The church was completely rebuilt in 1878-79 by Edwin Down in a fabric of coursed and squared rubble with freestone dressings. The present building consists of a nave with a small N transept, chancel with N vestry, a S porch, and a W bellcote. The only Romanesque feature is a font.
Parish church
Lcoking is 3.5 mi SE of Weston-super-Mare. The original settlement lies on the W tip of a small outlier of Blue Lias (stretching 2.5 mi E to Banwell village) between the limestone of Bleadon Hill 2 mi to the S and Milton Hill 2.5 mi to the N (both forming parts of the extreme westerly reach of the Mendip Hills). The S side of the village ends abruptly at a scarp above Locking Rhyne; the church, at about 18m above sea-level, is near the edge of that scarp and enjoys a relatively rural aspect to the S. Locking is named after its original inhabitants ‘Loccingas’ (i.e., ‘Locc’s People’). From 1974 to 1996 Locking was in the County of Avon. The church dates from late 14thc/early 15thc, and was restored in 1814/16 and in 1833. It has a noteworthy Romanesque font.
Parish church
North Cheriton lies about 3 miles WSW of Wincanton on the modern-day A357. The church of St John the Baptist (at c.120m altitude) makes a group with its attendant manor house and farm. The present church has 14thc origins but was largely rebuilt in 1878. It is built of local stone quarried from Cheriton Hill, some 150m from the church, and Hamstone. The Romanesque elements comprise the font and a corbel sculpture.
Parish church
The village of Puckington, Somerset is situated 10 miles SE of Taunton and 10 miles W of Yeovil. The church, which is built of rubble, is mostly of the 13thc and 15th with later work. It consists of a W tower, nave, large mid-19thc transept, chancel, S porch and vestry. The font is Romanesque.
Parish church
The village of Kilmersdon lies at the head of a valley leading N through the Mendip Hills to Radstock. It straddles the secondary road between Norton St Philip and Chilcompton, which road climbs to the W of the village up to the ridge along which runs N-S the Fosse Way and, to the NE, around Ammerdown Park up to the ridge along which runs the Frome-Radstock main A362 road.
The church is of Norman origin, although much of the existing fabric dates between the 15th and the 16thc; the church was restored in the 19thc. It consists of a W tower, a nave, a chancel, a N aisle with a chapel, a S organ loft and a vestry. The Romanesque elements comprise the window in the nave S wall (reopened in 1898), the plain narrow S doorway (now into the vestry) visible from the nave, remains of a chancel N window (again visible only from inside), many stretches of a fish-scale frieze outside, part of a corbel table on the nave walls and built-in fragments of carving inside (chancel N wall) as well as outside.
Parish church
Templecombe is situated on the A357 5m S of Wincanton and 12m E of Yeovil. The church, which is located in the centre of the village, has Norman origins, but was rebuilt in the 19thc. It consists of a S tower incorporating a porch, nave with N aisle and NE corner vestry and chancel. The font is Romanesque.
Parish church
Leigh-on-Mendip is about 5 miles from Frome and Shepton Mallet. At about 200m OD up on the E Mendips, the large linear village occupies reasonably level land on a broad W-E ridge to the SW of the large limestone quarry of Halecombe. Disused quarries lie to the N and S, the latter adjacent to Downhead; indeed, the surrounding area is punctuated by them. 500m S of the village runs the old main road between Wells and Frome. The church was rebuilt c1500 but contains a Romanesque font.
Parish church
Lamyatt lies within the triangle formed by Castle Cary (2 miles SE), Bruton and Evercreech, Somerset (3 miles to the N). The name means ‘lamb gate’, referring to the gap in the horseshoe of hills surrounding Evercreech (Watts, 2004). The village is on Lower Lias limestone, with Creech Hill to the E rising to Fuller’s Earth limestone. The church lies at 118m altitude 800m W of Lamyatt Beacon, in its own conch-like combe, 700m NE of the village centre, accompanied by its farm (‘Lamyatt Farm’) and associated buildings. The church is predominantly Perpendicular in date, but has a Romanesque font.