St Andrew's Church, Mells Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Church of St Andrew, Mells
Church of St Andrew, Mells
51°14′30.94″N 2°23′25.89″W / 51.2419278°N 2.3905250°W / 51.2419278; -2.3905250
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Broad Church
History
Dedication	St. Andrew
Administration
Parish	Mells with Vobster
Deanery	Frome
Archdeaconry	Wells
Diocese	Bath and Wells
Province	Canterbury

St Andrew's Church is a Church of England parish church. It is found in the village of Mells in Somerset, England. This church is a very important historic building, officially listed as Grade I.

History of St Andrew's Church
- Famous People Buried or Remembered Here
Church Design and Features
- Organ, Bells, and Clock
Gallery
See also

History of St Andrew's Church

Most of the church you see today was built in the late 1400s. It was designed in a style called Perpendicular Gothic. The church also had some updates and fixes in the mid-1800s. However, a church has stood on this spot for many centuries.

In 1292, the church belonged to Glastonbury Abbey, which was a very powerful monastery. St Andrew's Church has strong ties to two important local families: the Asquith family and the Horner family. These families lived nearby at Mells Manor.

Famous People Buried or Remembered Here

Many well-known people are buried at St Andrew's Church. Others have special memorials inside the church.

People buried here include:

The famous poet Siegfried Sassoon.
The priest Ronald Knox.
The politician Sir Maurice Bonham Carter.
The novelist George A. Birmingham (whose real name was James Owen Hannay).
Katharine Asquith, who was the wife of Raymond Asquith.

Special memorials you can see include:

An equestrian statue of Edward Horner. This is a statue of a person on a horse. It was made by Sir Alfred Munnings. Edward Horner died in a battle called Cambrai in 1917 during World War I. The statue was so good that the Jockey Club later asked the artist to make a bronze statue of a famous racehorse.
A bronze wreath for Raymond Asquith. This was designed by the famous architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, who also designed the village's war memorial. The lettering was done by Eric Gill.
A bronze plaque for Captain Stanes Geoffrey Bates. He was part of the 7th Queen's Own Hussars and was killed in action near Ypres in World War I.
A white gesso plaque from 1886 for Laura Lyttelton. This was made by Edward Burne-Jones. He also made a gilded copy of this memorial, which is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Church Design and Features

The inside of St Andrew's Church has many interesting features. There is a beautiful reredos (a decorated screen behind the altar) made from white marble. The altar itself is made of different colored marbles.

The church also has a very old font from the Norman period. You can see several stained glass windows that were made around 1850. Other special items include a stained-glass window by artist William Nicholson. There is also a tapestry made by Lady Horner, based on a design by Burne-Jones. A stone tablet lists the names of villagers who died in the two World Wars. As mentioned, the church is a Grade I listed building, meaning it's very important historically.

Organ, Bells, and Clock

The church has a large pipe organ with two keyboards. It was built in 1880 by Vowles. You can find more details about this organ on the National Pipe Organ Register.

The church tower was built around 1446. It has a clock from the 1600s. The tower also holds a ring of 8 bells that are used for change ringing. The oldest bell is from 1716. Some of the bells were cast by famous bell-making families like Rudhall of Gloucester and the Bilbie family. The newest bells were made in 1869 by Mears & Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. There is also a very old sanctus bell from around 1325. This special bell hangs in the roof of the chancel and is listed on a national database of important historical bells.