Church of St Mary the Virgin, Croscombe

Church of St Mary the Virgin
Location within Somerset
General information
Town or city	Croscombe
Country	England
Coordinates	51.1975°N 2.5873°W / 51.1975; -2.5873
Construction started	15th century
Completed	16th century

The Anglican Church of St Mary the Virgin in Croscombe, Somerset, England, is primarily from the 15th and 16th centuries with 19th-century restoration. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[1][2]

It consists of a nave, chancel and has north and south aisles. The church is unusual in Somerset in having a spire, which rises above a three-stage tower which is supported by diagonal buttresses.[2] St Mary's includes a peal of six bells, the earliest dated 1613,[a] and an organ by Gray and Davison from 1837.[3]

The Jacobean interior woodwork including the pulpit and rood screen are of national renown.[4][5][6] The pulpit is decorated with the arms of Arthur Lake who was the Bishop of Bath and Wells in the 17th century.[7]

The churchyard contains war graves of four service personnel, one of World War I and three of World War II.[8]

The parish is part of the benefice of Pilton with Croscombe, North Wootton and Dinder within the Diocese of Bath and Wells.[9]

See also

• List of Grade I listed buildings in Mendip
• List of towers in Somerset
• List of ecclesiastical parishes in the Diocese of Bath and Wells

References

Notes

1. List of bells. 1 (treble): Mears of Whitechapel, 1808; 2: 1613; 3: Thomas Bilbie of Bristol, 1734; 4: Mears, 1808; 5: Mears, 1820; 6 (tenor): 1658. Source: Ellacombe, Henry Thomas (1875). The Church Bells of Somerset. Exeter: Printed for the author by William Pollard. p. 43.

Citations

1. "Church of St Mary the Virgin". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
2. "Church of St Mary the Virgin". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
3. "Somerset: Croscombe, Blessed Virgin Mary [N05556]". National Pipe Organ Register. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
4. Scott, Shane (1995). The hidden places of Somerset. Aldermaston: Travel Publishing Ltd. p. 63. ISBN 1-902007-01-8.
5. Brown, Patrick (1981). Buildings of Britain 1550-1750: South West England. Moorland. pp. 84–85. ISBN 0861900308.
6. "Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin - Croscombe". The Benefice of Pilton with Croscombe, North Wootton and Dinder. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
7. Goodall, John (2015). Parish Church Treasures: The Nation's Greatest Art Collection. Bloomsbury. p. 163. ISBN 9781472917638.
8. "Croscombe (St. Mary) Churchyard". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
9. "Croscombe: The Blessed Virgin Mary, Croscombe". A Church Near You. Church of England. Retrieved 20 September 2016.