St Andrews Church (), of the
Church of England, is on the outskirts of
Chew Stoke,
Somerset,
England.
The Parish of Chew Stoke is within the
Benefice of Chew Stoke with
Nempnett Thrubwell and forms part of the
Diocese of Bath and Wells.
The church, parts of which date from the 15th century, is a Grade II*
listed building.
Architecture
The church was constructed in the 15th century in the
perpendicular style and the tower remains largely unchanged, however the main body underwent extensive renovation and the addition of the north isle in 1862. It has diagonal
buttresses and a paneled
parapet on the west tower which has an unusual spirelet on the staircase
turret, and contains
bells cast by the Bilbie family in the village.
The tower, which was built around 1475, has an ornate crown with an elaborate spirelet over the stair turret with two tiers of arcading.
Bells
The oldest bell in the tower dates from 1698 and was cast by the
Bilbie family in the village. Others from the same maker are dated 1718 and 1731. The bells were tuned and re-hung into anew frame in 1908 and again in 1996 with a new bell from
John Taylor's foundry in Loughborough replacing the treble. The redundant bell is now on display at the back of the church as a memorial to the Bilbies.
Church interior
The
Victorian square
font and
pulpit match, but are now largely
whitewashed, as is much of...
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