Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 06/03/2012

ST43NW
2/17
29.3.63

SHAPWICK CP
CHURCH ROAD (North side)
Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(Formerly listed as Church of St Mary)

GV II*

Anglican Parish Church. Consecrated 1331, some C15 alteration, particularly to tower and West end; restored 1861 by
George Gilbert Scott. Coursed and squared rubble and some ashlar, freestone dressings, slate roofs with crested ridges,
coped verges with cruciform finials. Decorated and Perpendicular; restoration in a neo-Decorated style. Nave with a
heated North vestry, South porch, central tower, chancel. Embattled 2 stage tower, 2-light bell-chamber windows,
gargoyles; stair turret to North with embattled octagonal upper stage; South side with 2 further 2-light windows. Two
squat 2-stage buttresses on the North and South sides of tower at junction with nave and chancel. Two bay nave, 2 and
3-light windows; 5-light transomed West window, West door. Buttressed vestry with a 2-light window. Buttressed porch,
interior benched on flag floor; outer door opening with paired wrought-iron gates; inner door opening with paired plank
doors, E-shaped hinges. Two bay chancel, 2-light windows, plain 3-light East window; priests door with restored C15
hinges. Plastered interior on tile floors, marble around altar. Tower on squat double-chamfered arches continued in the
piers without interruption. Nave with restored C15 wagon roof; C19 coffered ceiling under tower; chancel with C19 wagon
roof. Two C14 piscinae to nave. C15 stone pulpit; C14/C15 style font. Part of detached remains of C17 altar rail,
turned balusters; Jacobean table in vestry. Two fine wall monuments of C17 to Bull family of Shapwick Manor (q.v.); to
Jane Bull of 1657 with a marble surround, open segmental pediment with achievement, flanking cherubs; to Henry Bull of
1691, broken segmental pediment with achievement, flanking pilasters with emblems of mortality. Five C18 monuments;
that to Thomas Strangways of 1766 with urn finial; 9 principal C19 monuments. Remainder of fittings of C19, including
pews, choir stalls, lectern, alter rail, ornamental oil lamps on sconces and decalogue plaques flanking tower arch.
Achievement on canvas plaque in nave. Much mid/late C19 stained glass, particularly in the chancel.

Listing NGR: ST4177438244

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17553255

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)