Church of St Michael

Details

NORTH CADBURY CP WOOLSTON ROAD (South side, off) ST6327 8/171 Church of St. Michael 24.3.61 GV I

Anglican Parish Church. Mostly of 1417, tower a few years earlier, some older fragments, with some restoration by John Norton. Local lias stone cut and squared, Doulting stone dressings; lead roofs behind parapets. Symmetrical 4-cell plan of 3-bay chancel, 5-bay nave, north and south aisles, with matching 2-storey north and south porches, north- east vestry and west tower. Chancel has deep plinth, angled corner and bay buttresses, string courses, plain parapets with cross finial to gable; east window 5-light, relatively plain cusped Perpendicular tracery under arched label with square stops, with 3-light matching windows to north and south sides; all windows have external ferramenta; to centre bay south side small pointed-arched doorway with matching label. North-east vestry to match; 2 bays of slightly later C15; 2-light cusped flat-arched windows in east and north walls, with heating chamber under. North aisle matches chancel in general detail, but the windows have internal ferramenta; no west window: south aisle a mirrored copy. Nave only visible as clerestory, with simple 3-light cusped windows under high cambered arches - general line of roof and parapet continuous with chancel. North and south porches almost identical and match rest of Church: deep plinth, angled corner buttresses, string courses and plain parapet; octagonal stair turrets on inner east corner with stepped conoid roofs and crocketted finials; simple 2-order pointed outer archway with crocketted ogee label ending in statue niche, flanked by 2 small 2-light traceried windows; between springing of doorway arch and cills band of traceried panels; on south side a pointed sundial on parapet: inside, both have stellar lierne vaults and hollow-mould inner door arches with only nominal capitals, bench seats, and original doors into stair turrets. Tower in 3 stages; deep plinths, angled corner buttresses to full height, string courses, top with corner gargoyles, battlemented parapet; south- east stair turret square plan for 2 stages then octagonal, with small spirelet having crocketted finial: sides of tower plain at base, but on west face a cambered arched doorway under square label with headstops, foliated spandrils, and above a 3-light window with cusped tracery having a transome at springing level, set in deep chamfer without label; to second stage small simple rectangular window on south and west faces, and 2-light traceried window in deep chamfered reveal on north, over clock-face; all faces at stage 3 have 2-light traceried windows with pierced stone baffles, with additional rectangular window on west side. Internal character almost totally C15. Tall chancel with traceried kingpost trussed roof, panelled, possibly with some C19 restoration; plain walls save for C19 reredos and tall canopied statue niches to each side, with traces of colouring; 3-seat ogee-canopied sedilia in south wall, opposite is mounted the original altar top stone: C19 choirstalls and fittings. Vestry once used as school: alphabet letters painted in C18 script on south wall: chamfer mould panelled roof, one carved centre boss. Nave has early arcades, full-width chancel arch but narrow tower arch; fine traceried kingpost roof with end drops onto angel corbels, leaf bosses, more elaborate than chancel: aisles have simpler roofs with only east bays panelled. Font probably C15; octagonal bowl with variety of panels, square pillar with corner shafts; pulpit C18: fine collection of mostly Cl6 bench ends, one dated 1538, and on east wall of south aisle three misericords of c1400. Memorials mostly C19 and C20, but in tower space two large chest tombs of early C17; one dated 1611, probably of Sir Francis Hastings, died 1610, and his wife, died 1596, who is commemorated by a 96-line poem engraved on a brass above; the other to Ewens Fuily, Katherine died 1612 and %atthew died 1629; also some C18 tablets: an early C15 tomb to the Batreaux family who built the church removed for restoration (January 1985). Numerous fragments of medieval glass, especially in west window - eight figures, reset in 1891. (Anon: Church of St. Michael, North Cadbury, undated; Pevsner N, Buildings of England, South and West Somerset, 1958).

Listing NGR: ST6354627054

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

262104

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Church of St Michael North Cadbury, ()
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: South and West Somerset, (1958)

End of official list entry

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