Church of All Saints, Wrington facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Church of All Saints
All Saints, Wrington, Somerset, from the south-east
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Location	Wrington, Somerset, England
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
History
Founded	13th century
Dedication	All Saints
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I listed
Designated	2 February 1961
Style	Decorated Gothic, Perpendicular Gothic
Years built	1300-1450
Specifications
Tower height	35 metres (113.5 feet)
Bells	10 change ringing bells + sanctus bell
Tenor bell weight	36 long cwt 2 qr 19 lb (4,107 lb or 1,863 kg)
Administration
Parish	Wrington
Benefice	Wrington with Butcombe and Burrington
Deanery	Locking
Archdeaconry	Bath
Diocese	Bath & Wells
Province	Canterbury

The Church of All Saints is a historic church in the village of Wrington, Somerset, England. It belongs to the Church of England. People have worshipped here since the 1200s, but most of the building you see today was built in the 1400s. It's considered a very important building and is protected as a Grade I listed building.

Church History
- Victorian Updates
- Modern Restoration
Church Design
Church Organ
Church Bells
- Tower Clock
See also

Church History

We don't have many old records about buildings before the 1200s. But some parts of the church, especially the chancel (the area around the altar), are from the 13th century. This older part looks simpler than the rest of the church.

The church was greatly changed and made bigger between 1420 and 1450. During this time, the main part of the church, called the nave, and its side sections, called aisles, were rebuilt. A large tower was also added at the west end. The chancel was also updated to fit the new, larger nave. You can still see where the old roof used to be inside the church.

Victorian Updates

From 1859 to 1860, the church had a big makeover. The walls were covered with plaster and stucco. Old wooden benches were taken out and new ones put in. A gallery above the tower arch was removed. The organ was moved under the tower. New tiles were laid on the chancel floor. A new font (for baptisms) was added. New windows were put high up in the nave walls, called clerestory windows. The big window at the east end was replaced with a copy of the original 13th-century one. The tower itself was repaired in 1948.

Modern Restoration

In 2017, the church had another major restoration project. This work took about eight months. The church floor was lifted, and new drainage was put in. Then, the floor was relaid with new stone and underfloor heating. The stone walls inside were cleaned. All the wiring and plumbing were updated. The wooden ceilings were cleaned and their decorative parts were gilded (covered in a thin layer of gold). Some pews were also removed. The first service in the newly restored church was held on Palm Sunday in 2017.

Church Design

Outside the Church

The most striking part of the church from the outside is its tall west tower. It stands about 35 meters (113.5 feet) high. Someone in 1851 called it one of the "highest achievements of architectural genius." The tower has four main sections. It has a tall belfry (where the bells are) that goes through the top two sections. This design is common for towers built in Somerset during that time.

There's a spiral staircase in the tower's south-east corner. At each of the four corners of the tower, there are square turrets with tall, pointed decorations called pinnacles. The large main door at the bottom of the tower has beautiful stone patterns and carvings.

Sir Charles Barry, a famous architect who helped design the Palace of Westminster (the Houses of Parliament) in London, was inspired by Wrington's tower. He used it as an idea for the Victoria Tower in London!

The tower from the west.

The main body of the church (nave), the high windows (clerestory), the side aisles, and the south porch were built in the 1400s. They are in the Perpendicular Gothic style, which means they have lots of vertical lines. The clerestory windows have three sections, while the aisle windows have four. Both the aisles and the clerestory have a decorative wall at the top called a parapet, with three-leaf shapes. The south porch also has a staircase in its corner. The parapet on the porch has a different pattern, with four-leaf shapes. At the east end of the nave, there's a fancy bell-cot holding a small sanctus bell.

The side aisles extend a bit beyond the main part of the church into the chancel. Both aisles end with large four-section windows.

The chancel is lower and simpler than the nave. It has a steeper, tiled roof. On the eastern wall of the chancel, there are two nicely decorated niches that once held statues. You can also spot many interesting gargoyles on the outside of the church.

Inside the Church

The nave, looking east.

Even though the nave is not super long, it is very tall. This makes the inside feel big and open. The arches of the nave are high, and above them are the clerestory windows. Above that is a beautiful wooden roof with strong beams. The roof is held up by stone carvings called corbels that stick out from the walls. You can still see the outline of the old nave roof on the tower arch.

The tower area is lit by a large stained glass window with five sections. Above this window is a very decorative fan vault, which is a special type of arched ceiling from the Perpendicular style. The nave itself gets light from four large windows in each aisle and the three-section clerestory windows.

The chancel has a barrel vault ceiling that has been restored. It has gilded (gold-covered) decorations. A beautiful 16th-century screen separates the nave from the chancel. In the nave, there's a 15th-century marble font. The chancel also has a stone reredos (a decorated screen behind the altar) from the 1800s, designed by Charles Barry.

Inside the church, you'll find several monuments. These include stone busts of famous people like John Locke and Hannah More from the early 1800s, both in the south porch. There is also a small chained library, which is a collection of books that were once chained to shelves to prevent them from being stolen.

Building Materials

The outside of the church is built from local stone from nearby Felton, smooth cut stone called ashlar, and stone from Doutling. Inside, the roof and pews are made of oak wood. The new floor, put in during the 2017 restoration, is paved with Jurassic Purbeck Blend, a type of limestone from the Purbeck Hills. The pulpit (where sermons are given) is made from Caen stone, which comes from quarries in north-western France.

Church Organ

During the Victorian restoration in 1859–1860, a new organ was installed under the tower's arched ceiling. This was the first organ the church had since the 1600s, as the previous one was destroyed in 1644. This organ was built by J. W. Walker & Sons of London.

In 1880, this organ was moved from under the tower to the lady chapel and made bigger by the same company. It was expanded again in 1976 by Percy Daniel of Clevedon. Between 1986 and 1994, R. D. Taylor of Burrington made further improvements. In 2021, people started raising money to restore the organ again. They aimed to collect £50,000 for the work.

Church Bells

The oldest bell at Wrington is the small sanctus bell, which hangs in the bell-cot. It was made around 1510 in Bristol. The main tower had four bells in the 1500s. These bells were hung in a large wooden frame.

In 1611, a new bell was added, making a total of five bells. This new bell weighed about 588 kilograms. It was likely made right in the churchyard, which was common back then. Ten years later, in 1621, one of the bells cracked and had to be remade. In 1628, two more bells were remade.

In 1703, the largest bell, called the tenor bell, was remade. This time, it was taken all the way to Gloucester to be recast. This shows that roads were getting better for transport. In 1712, another bell was remade. This 1712 bell is the oldest one still in the tower today.

In 1750, big changes were made to the bells. The old bells were remade, and an extra bell was added, creating a set of six bells. The new tenor bell weighed over 1,600 kilograms. After this, the bells were set up for "change ringing," which is a special way of ringing bells in a pattern.

In 1845, two more bells were remade in London. In 1911, all six bells were sent to London to be retuned and rehung. Four new bells were added, making a total of ten bells. They were hung in a new two-level metal frame because the tower was narrow. The tenor bell now weighs about 1,863 kilograms.

More work was done on the bells throughout the 1900s. In 1930, one bell cracked and was remade. In 1978, all ten bells were rehung on ball bearings, which made them easier to ring. In 1985, another bell cracked and was also remade.

In 2011, the bells had major maintenance. This included fixing parts like the clappers (the parts that strike the bell) and pulleys. The framework was also painted. The bells at Wrington are among the heaviest in Somerset. They are also the fifth heaviest set of ten change ringing bells in the world!

Tower Clock

The church tower has a clock that was last restored in 1870. This clock used to chime every 15 minutes during the day. In 2012, some local people felt the chimes were too loud at night. The local council asked the church to stop the chimes between 11 pm and 7 am. Because the clock didn't have a way to automatically turn off at night, the chimes were stopped completely for a while. Eventually, the church and residents agreed that the clock would only chime every hour at night, instead of every fifteen minutes.