Church of St Nicholas and the Blessed Virgin Mary, Stowey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Church of St Nicholas and the Blessed Virgin Mary |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Stowey, Somerset, England |
| Built | 13th century |
|
Listed Building – Grade II
|
|
| Designated | 21 September 1960 |
| Reference no. | 1129575 |
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
The Church of St Nicholas and the Blessed Virgin Mary is an old church in Stowey, a village in Somerset, England. It was built a very long time ago, in the 1200s! This church is so special that it's officially protected as a Grade II listed building. This means it's an important historic place.
Contents
A Look Inside the Church
The oldest part of the church is the chancel, which is at the eastern end. This is where the altar is located. You can also spot a small door, sometimes called a priest's door, with a tiny carved figure above it.
How the Church Grew
The main part of the church, called the nave, was added in the 1300s. Later, in the 1300s or early 1400s, a tall tower was built. This tower has three sections and is supported by strong diagonal buttresses. There's even a secret-looking stair turret in one corner!
The Church Bells
The tower holds six bells that ring regularly for church services. Five of these bells were made by the famous local Bilbie family. A sixth bell was added in 1991 from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, a very old bell-making company.
Building Materials and Changes
The church is built from local red sandstone, just like the nearby Stowey House. The nave has cool stripes of red sandstone mixed with a different type of stone called lias. The chancel has a tiled roof, while the nave and front porch have slate roofs.
The church was changed a bit in the 1600s. Then, in the 1800s, it got a big makeover called a Victorian restoration. During this time, parts of the roof were replaced. Some older features, like a two-story pulpit and a gallery, were removed.
Art and History Inside
Inside the church, you can see amazing wall paintings by Henry Strachey from the early 1900s. Near the altar, there are life-sized paintings of St Nicholas and St Mary. In the chancel, you'll also find paintings of the amazing story of the Feeding the multitude and of Jesus's disciples on the road to Emmaus.
Over the arch leading to the chancel, there's a powerful painting of the Last Judgment. It shows an equal number of angels of light and darkness.
Old Monuments and Features
The church also has old wall monuments from the mid-1700s. These were made by sculptors like Thomas Paty and remember the Jones and Sandford families. The font, used for baptisms, is from the 1300s.
An organ was put in the church in the 1930s. When electricity came to the church in 1965, the organ was updated to work with it. Above the entrance door, there's a special painted shield called a funerary hatchment. This one was made to celebrate when King Charles II became king again in 1660.
Church Connections
In the 1500s or 1600s, Stowey's church was a smaller part, or chapelry, of the larger church in Chew Magna. Today, the parish is still part of the Chew Magna Deanery, which is within the wider archdeaconry of Bath.
See also
- List of ecclesiastical parishes in the Diocese of Bath and Wells
