Church of St Peter and St Paul, South Petherton facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Church of St Peter and St Paul
Church from the north west, showing porch, north transept and octagonal central tower
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Location	South Petherton, Somerset, England
Denomination	Church of England
History
Dedication	Peter the Apostle Paul the Apostle
Architecture
Functional status	Parish church
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	19 April 1961
Style	Gothic
Specifications
Length	130 feet (40 m)
Bells	12 + flat sixth
Tenor bell weight	22 long cwt 3 qr 15 lb (2,563  lb or 1,163  kg)
Administration
Parish	South Petherton with the Seavingtons and the Lambrooks
Deanery	Somerset South
Archdeaconry	Taunton
Diocese	Bath and Wells
Province	Canterbury

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is the main Church of England parish church for the village of South Petherton, Somerset, England. This church is a large building shaped like a cross (called cruciform). It was built where an older Saxon church (a Minster) once stood. Most of the church you see today was built between the 13th and 15th centuries. Because of its age and importance, it is a Grade I listed building.

The church is famous for its beautiful Gothic architecture, colourful stained glass windows, old monuments, and a special eight-sided (octagonal) tower in the middle. This tower is thought to be the tallest of its kind in Britain.

History of the Church
Church Design
Church Bells
- Bell History
- Longest Bell Ringing
See also

History of the Church

Early Beginnings

South Petherton grew up near the Fosse Way, an important Roman road. This road was built in the 1st and 2nd centuries. It passed less than a mile from where the village is now. It's likely that a Saxon monastery or minster was set up here. This minster would have looked after smaller chapels in the area. Old letters from the Pope mention this early church.

From Kings to Abbeys

By the time of the Norman Conquest (when William the Conqueror took over England), the land in South Petherton belonged to William the Conqueror himself. It was then passed down to several kings. Later, around 1143-1154, King Stephen gave the land, including the village and the old monastery, to Wells Cathedral.

In 1181 or 1182, King Henry II gave the church directly to Bruton Abbey. It became a small part of that abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. This was when King Henry VIII closed many monasteries. It's believed that the church slowly started to be rebuilt in the Gothic style during the 12th century. This was probably paid for by the abbey. Parts of the old 12th-century walls in the chancel (the area around the altar) show that this part might have been rebuilt first.

Gothic Style Building

The church was rebuilt in the Gothic style in two main stages. The first stage was likely in the late 13th century. This continued the work on the chancel in the Early English Gothic style. The lower part of the tower, including the four main pillars, was also started then.

A bigger rebuilding project happened in the 14th and 15th centuries. The north transept (the arm of the cross shape) and the south porch (the entrance) were rebuilt in the 14th century. The tower was made taller, and the nave (the main part of the church where people sit) was finished in the 15th century.

Later Changes

By 1636, the lead roof of the chancel was in bad shape. A lead-lined tomb found in the church was used to help fix the roof. In 1644, Parliamentary troops damaged the windows in the chancel and the north nave aisle. This destroyed most of the old medieval stained glass and the church organ. The organ wasn't replaced until 1715.

19th Century Fixes

The church had a lot of repair work done in the 19th century. The first stage, from 1859 to 1860, involved putting in new seats and replacing many church items. These included the lectern (where readings are given) and the pulpit (where sermons are preached). The south transept became the vestry (a room for clergy and church items). This work was done by Hicks and Isaacs from Bristol.

A bigger restoration happened between 1882 and 1890. This was led by a famous Victorian architect named Arthur Bloomfield. He completely renewed the church building. He also added a colourful painting to the east wall of the nave above the tower arch. The south porch was restored in 1890. The galleries (balconies) around the walls were also removed at this time.

The final stage was the restoration of the tower itself in 1895. This was done by architects J. D. Sedding and H. Wilson.

Church Design

Shape and Size

Like most medieval churches in England, St Peter and St Paul's has a traditional cross shape. It has four arms meeting in the middle, with a tower on top. The church is about 40 metres (130 feet) long. Its total area is about 761 square metres (8,190 square feet). This makes it a "large" church for the Church of England.

The church has a nave (main body) with four sections and side aisles. There are porches on the north and south sides of the aisles. It also has north and south transepts (the arms of the cross) and a chancel (the area near the altar) with two sections. The central tower is unusual. It has a square base below the roof but becomes eight-sided (octagonal) above that. Also, the octagon is wider from east to west than from north to south.

Outside the Church

The church sits on a small hill, which is the highest point in the village. This makes it a clear landmark. The most striking part from the outside is the tall, eight-sided tower. It is said to be the tallest of its kind in the country. The tower is about 6.4 metres (21 feet) wide from east to west. The tower has two levels above the roof. It has decorative bands (string courses), walls with square tops (battlemented parapets), and stone carvings (gargoyles). There is a spiral staircase (stair turret) that goes all the way up the tower in the southwest corner. The tower is topped with a small lead-covered spire and a wrought-iron weathervane.

The nave aisles also have string courses, but their tops are plain, not battlemented. Stone supports (buttresses) separate each section of the nave. The aisles have wide 15th-century windows with three sections. The west windows of the aisles match these. There is no clerestory (an upper row of windows), so the central part of the nave is only visible on the west end. This end has a large window with five sections and detailed stone patterns (Perpendicular Gothic traceried window).

Both nave aisles have porches. The south porch was built in the 14th century. It is larger than the north one but does not have a second floor. It has a shaped arch with bell-shaped tops (bell capitals) and a stone ceiling with six parts (sexpartite vault). The north porch was built in the 15th century. It is smaller but has a second floor. It has angled corner buttresses and shaped arches.

The north transept has two sections. It has angled corner buttresses and a battlemented parapet. This transept has two five-section windows. The window on the north side has a net-like stone pattern (reticulated tracery). The window on the east side is flat-arched, also with reticulated tracery. The south transept has one section and looks similar to the chancel.

The outside of the church is mostly built from Ham stone, which is common in the area. The roof of the chancel and south porch has clay tiles, while the rest of the roof is covered with lead.

Church from the west
Detail on the central tower
North porch
North transept window
Church from the east

Inside the Church

The inside of the church is very spacious. The nave is wide, and its side aisles are almost as tall as the central nave. The arches (arcade) in the nave are from the 15th century. The ceilings above them were added in the late 19th century. The central crossing, under the tower, has unusual stone vaulting. It has a star-like pattern around the opening for the bells. This vault is much lower than the nave roof. The space above the arches is filled with solid stone walls. The western wall, facing the nave, has a colourful painting of God and angels from the late 19th or early 20th century. The chancel has a wooden ceiling from 1882. It also has a piscina (a basin for washing sacred vessels) and a blocked hagioscope (a squint or opening) to the north transept.

The church has many old monuments. These include memorials to Giles Daubeney, William Ayshe, Samuel Cabel, and Jacob Ayshe, all in the north transept. The stained glass windows are also special. Most were made by Nicholson and show local landmarks. These include Barrow Mump, Glastonbury Abbey, and Sherborne Abbey. There is a medium-sized pipe organ with two keyboards. It is located under the tower vaulting. The organ was made by W. G. Vowles of Bristol. It has 22 speaking stops (controls that change the sound).

Nave, showing wall painting
Window in south nave aisle, with Sherborne Abbey (left), Barrow Mump (middle) and Glastonbury Abbey (right)
Tomb chest of Sir Giles Daubeney

Church Bells

Bell History

The first bells at South Petherton were a set of six. They were made by John Wiseman in 1641. Over the years, some of these bells were recast (melted down and reshaped). For example, the 3rd bell was recast in 1713 by the famous Bilbie family.

In 1896, the six heavy bells were rehung in a new wooden frame. This frame was designed for eight bells. Two new smaller bells (treble bells) were added, making a total of eight. These new bells were made by Mears & Stainbank in London. New parts were also added for all the bells.

The 1896 bell frame was very high up in the tower. This made the bells hard to ring. Also, the bells themselves were not as good quality as newer ones. In 1919, the 6th bell was recast again.

In 1994, a group was formed to look into restoring or replacing the bells. Experts said that six of the eight bells were too out of tune to be fixed. Replacing the bells would be expensive.

In the late 1990s, a special fund was set up for bell restoration projects. This fund had £3,000,000. This news meant the project to replace the bells could start again. The church allowed the project to go ahead, as long as the bell ringers raised all the money themselves. English Heritage also gave permission. They asked that the old bell frame be kept in the tower. They also wanted the historically important 3rd bell from 1641 to be saved. This allowed for a new frame to be installed lower in the tower for a new set of twelve bells.

The new bells were ordered from John Taylor & Co in Loughborough. When the old bells left the tower in December 1997, the heaviest bell (the tenor) was found to be lighter than thought. New homes were found for some of the old bells in other churches. The 4th bell was cracked and used to test bell-welding methods. The 5th and 7th bells were scrapped.

The new bells, made in 1998, are still in the church tower today. The tenor bell weighs about 1,163 kg (2,563 pounds). The bells were hung in a new iron and steel frame. This frame is 7.6 metres (25 feet) lower than the old one, which is still in the tower with the preserved 3rd bell. The whole project cost £150,000. In 2007, a thirteenth bell was added. It's called a "flat sixth" and sits between the 6th and 7th bells. This extra bell allows for a lighter set of eight bells to be rung, which is good for teaching new ringers. Having twelve bells in a village church is unusual. Because of this, South Petherton is a training centre for bell ringing in South Somerset.

Longest Bell Ringing

In 2012, people at the church started talking about ringing a very long peal of bells for charity. A peal is a long, continuous ringing of bells in a specific pattern (called a method). The church's bell captain had been part of a record-breaking attempt before.

In October 2014, an attempt was made at South Petherton to break a record set in 1987. However, it failed after 4 hours because two bells moved unexpectedly. A second attempt took place on 17 October 2015. It started shortly after 7 a.m. and finished at 9:30 p.m. The ringing was shown live in the church. When it finished, many people cheered. The attempt was successful! They rang 21,216 changes (different sequences of bells) of a method called 'Cambridge Surprise Maximus'. This took 14 hours and 26 minutes. It became the longest peal ever rung on twelve bells. The bell ringers came from all over the UK.

The record set at South Petherton was broken two years later in 2017. However, the peal at South Petherton is still the second-longest on twelve bells. It also still holds the record for the longest peal of 'Cambridge Surprise Maximus'. A large board in the ringing room records this amazing event.