Saturday, 22 January 2022

St Andrew West Bradley Church

 

My wife an I went to West Bradley in Somerset to visit one of her friends rather than be  sat while they chatted I went out to visit the church about half a mile away. Some history off Wikipedia :-

"The Anglican Church of St Andrew in West Bradley, within the English county of Somerset, dates from the 14th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.

The first chapel on the site appears in records dating from 1168. Until 1875 it was a subsidiary chapel to the Church of All Saints at East Pennard. The dedication to St Andrew was only added in the 20th century.

It consists of a two-bay nave, a south porch and a chancel, which has an organ loft. The two-stage square west tower has a small stair-turret on the northern side. The tower holds a ring of bells, the oldest of which dates from 1706, and has a clock which was added in 1739. The chancel and some other parts of the church underwent extensive restoration in the 19th century. Inside the church are a Norman font and a piscina. Further work, including the underpinning of the chancel arch, was undertaken in 1898.

The parish is part of the benefice of Baltonsborough with Butleigh, West Bradley and West Pennard within the Diocese of Bath and Wells."

The view of St Andrew from over the roadside boundary wall

You need to walk along the road to get to the entrance gate leading to the church

 
 Looking over to the left at the bell tower
 
 
Heading to the east end looking west
 
 
Around the north side looking west
 

 Then onto the west end an the tower again
 

Moving over to look east from the south west

The churchyard from the path as you walk up looking over to the west

 
Around the north side looking west

 
From the east end looking west

These graves are by the east end of the church

More over by the north west side

South west side beside the road

 
Into the porch

Which is quite plain

After going in the church I looked left towards the bell loft

The walked to the back to get  a view down the nave

Wider view

In the chancel

 
 The altar
 
 
Closer view of the altar and cover
 
 
The cross on the altar cover and altar cross above
 

 Turning around looking back west to the bell loft

 
The pulpit is over to the left of the chancel arch
 

Looking down to the nave
 

 Over to the right of the chancel arch you find the lectern
 

 The Norman font in the bell loft with heavy trunk in front
 
 
The niche is the old north door and now holds part of a tomb
 

Daniel Avery is how it would read now and he died in 1530 when Henry VIII was on the throne 
 

The organ which is in the chancel
 

 Beautiful Mothers Union Banner
 
 
a piscina which is where the holy water was held
 
 
View of a staff by a pew looking down the church
 

Keasberry memorial in the chancel
 
I will leave you this week with a view of the altar cross
Till next time have a peaceful weekend

 

9 comments:

William Kendall said...

Quite a marvelous church.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

What an extraordinarily narrow church. I like it a lot.

Jenny Woolf said...

Very plain and simple and yet it is clear that it is well loved and cared for, with beautiful needlework. I specially like the purple altar cloth, it suits the simplicity of the church.

Linda P said...

It was a good opportunity to visit this interesting church. I like the beautiful design of the MU banner. Have a peaceful Sunday and week.

Linda said...

So old and yet in good shape! I like the border windows.

Lydia C. Lee said...

Lovely. I was listening to David Byrne in a podcast and he was talking about architecture and music and how old catherdrals encouraged gregorian chants and that sort of vocal performance - so when I see these pictures, that music is what I hear in my head. #MySundayPhoto

Lydia C. Lee said...

#MySundaySnapshot . Clearly my brain is not working today....

RachelSwirl said...

Such beautiful buildings! Thanks for sharing and for linking up with #MySundaySnapshot.

Joanna Horobin said...

Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos. My parents lived in the adjacent hamlet of Parbrook and worshipped here. Their remains are in the peaceful old churchyard. Brought back wonderful memories