St George, Sampford Brett

St Etheldreda or St Audries, West Quantoxhead

Welcome to St Etheldreda's church. We are delighted you are visiting our page. If you are looking to have a wedding in our church, we will be very pleased to hear from you and to help you plan your special day. You will find further details as your scroll through this site and particularly on our dedicated page 'Your Wedding at St Audries Church'. You will also find details of our Sunday Services. Please do come and look around the church. It is open daily and you are most welcome.

We also welcome enquiries about Christenings (baptisms). Whether you are wishing to mark the birth of your baby with thanksgiving, or celebrate with an older child the life of God, we will ensure your family occasion is very special.

Please enjoy looking at our site and do contact us if we can be of help.

Revd Nicky Morgan: 01984 636667 Email: [email protected]

A Bit About Our Church's History

In the 1850s our 13th century church needed repairs but thanks to the huge generosity of the Acland and Acland-Hood families who offered to build anew, we today have the beautiful church of St Etheldreda. The architect, John Norton of London, designed and oversaw the work of the new 'Early Decorated' style church that was consecrated on St Etheldreda's day 17th October 1856 at a cost of £16,000.

It now seems likely that the old church, churchyard and buildings of the original village were partly demolished, buried deep under the present churchyard and the area landscaped to give the attractive parkland setting we see today below the A39.

The exterior of the rather exceptional present church is built of sandstone from Sampford Brett and the interior of Doulting stone from beyond Shepton Mallet. Itts arches are supported on columns of Babbacombe marble. Interesting Minton encaustic tiles display the coat of arms of the Acland-Hood family on the floor of the chancel. Both the steps leading to the altar and the plinth below it are of Plymouth marble. The fine stone corbels and decorations are by Farmer of London.

There are outstanding examples of stained glass windows produced by Kempe, Hardman, O'Connor, Powell and more recently Burlison and Grylls.

The organ is by J W Walker, the barrel organ by Bevington and Sons.

The font originating from the medieval church is possibly pre-Norman. The octagonal marble Victorian font was removed from the base of the tower and sits outside the west door.

The tower has six bells, two of which are dated 1440 and one of 1790 came from the medieval church. The church clock is by Dents of London who built 'Big Ben'.

A temporary wooden church was erected whilst the present church was built. In 1866 it was taken to Stolford where it is still in use.

We are a welcoming church, capable of seating about 130 persons, we have a morning service most Sundays, and are pet friendly and rarely closed.

Wedding receptions can be provided within a few hundred metres at the St Audries Park Wedding venue that was once the home of the Acland-Hood family.

West Quantoxhead precisely describes the location of the village from where there is access to the Quantock Hills. Farms and woodland spread out over the undulating land below and valleys run down to the Bristol Channel cliffs and beaches.

There are many holiday venues locally. There is a garage, a filling station, an inn and a shop.

St Mary's Stogumber

"The interior is full of light and colour... it is all most jolly."

England's Thousand Best Churches, Simon Jenkins

We are an inclusive and friendly church, welcoming to both villagers and visitors, no matter how strong or tentative your faith, whatever your background or circumstances, and whether you come often, sometimes or only occasionally.

Our Church may be ancient, but it is accessible, and we will happily give any assistance that you need to join us for worship or social events, so do get in touch.

We have a service most Sundays. Our style of worship is mostly traditional, using the ancient and beautiful Book of Common Prayer, but we are not stuffy. We also use the more modern Common Worship for alternate Sunday Communion services.

Music is important in our worship, and we have a good organ, talented organist and accomplished choir of about a dozen, who lead the hymns, psalms, sung responses and anthems. But don't feel you have to be a wonderful singer - there are also many of us who are not! We have a peal of six bells and a band of enthusiastic ringers.

After services, we gather at the back of the church for a chat over fresh coffee and biscuits (in the morning) or sherry (after Evensong).

Members of the congregation contribute to many aspects of parish life, including the Stogumber Good Neighbours scheme, village school, community lunches - good food is a feature of Stogumber!

If you have any questions or concerns, or would like a visit from one of our priests, please do get in touch.

All Saints Monksilver

Thank you for looking us up and let us. be the first to offer you a huge, warm welcome. Ros and I are the Church Wardens here and would love to see you worship with us or answer any questions you may have. Everyone is welcome, whether you have a strong faith, are just curious or wish to attend as a place of reflection or just a good old sing! We all have our own reasons for coming to Church. Best wishes, Caroline

All Saints, Monksilver Church is situated at the food of the Exmoor Hills, a stunning location for our small community of 90 souls. Many people travel through in their holidays and we welcome visitors to worship with us.

All Saints is where Sir Francis Drake married Elizabeth Sydenham, so we are full of ancient stories to discover.

Our congregation is small and older, but we are also full of smiles and experiences to share with you.There is a lively team of bell ringers, of which we are very proud, that meet weekly and ring for our Church services and special occasions, weddings, funerals and National events.

The villagers of Monksilver are exceptionally supportive of All Saints, volunteering to clean, arrange stunning flowers and mow our ancient churchyard, for which we are all very appreciative.

Currently we have a monthly Communion Service at 11am. This follows the beautiful Book of Common Prayer. Although the words are old, we are not stuffy! Often there is fresh coffee and biscuits to follow , or a drop of mulled wine when it’s chilly, so we can have a quick catch up with each other.

Safeguarding information can be found on the 'About Us' page.

St Mary's, Nettlecombe

Welcome we are a small friendly church in the Quantock Towers Benefice. We hold regular services and have events, details of which you will find on the following pages and additional local information can be found on https://www.nettlecombewestsomerset.life/

We are fortunate to have organists (many amateurs) so we enjoy singing in the services and although we can be smallish in number we try our best! Our organ is a very good instrument and was totally renovated about 20 years ago and is regularly maintained - we are open anyone who can play to come and join us! We also have a grand piano and at harvest and Easter we usuall invite the West Somerset Brass Band.

We welcome anyone to our services although at present we tend to be older adults, we do keep a childrens area which is well used in special services and weddings. We have a hearing loop and a ramp access to the church but we plan to improve disabled access with our planned reording of the West end of the church to make easier access and more flexible useage.

The church is well supported by the parish community. We are not in a village as the previous owners of Nettlecombe Court felt buildings spoilt the view! Our fete is held otside the church on the Court green and is well supported. Flower arrangers and cleaners make sure our church looks inviting and cared for. We try to hold a concert each year to bring music to the area and encourage local talent.

The church history is closely linked to Nettlecombe Court, situated next door, and is now an active Field Studies center. There is a well research guide available in the church, and a childrens trail is available. Many visitors are people who have stayed at the Court when it was a school in the past or came to the Field Study center from school.

The church is usually open for visitors but if you would like to check before you visit please contact us via the telephone contacts given on this site to ensure there is no event taking place.

Please visit the other pages for more information.

Holy Ghost, Crowcombe.

Safeguarding:

This parish takes the wellbeing and safety of the children and vulnerable adults that attend our church very seriously. If you wish to raise a safeguarding concern, please contact Ben Fawden, our safeguarding officer. Alternatively you can contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team on 01749 685135 and find out more information on their website: https://www.bathandwells.org.uk/diocese/safeguarding/

You can also find details of contacts on the Benefice website: www.quantocktowersbenefice.org.uk

St George, Bicknoller.

Safeguarding: This parish takes the wellbeing and safety of children and vulnerable adults that attend our church very seriously. If you wish to raise a safeguarding concern, please contact Sally Pryde, our safeguarding officer, on 01749588907 or by email [email protected]. Alternatively you can contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team on 01749 685135 and find more information on their website: https://www.bathandwells.org.uk/diocese/safeguarding/. You will also find full contact details on the Benefice website at: www.quantocktowersbenefice.org.uk.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, East Quantoxhead.

Welcome to St. Mary's church, East Quantoxhead.

Rector: Revd. Nicky Morgan. 01984 636667, email:[email protected]

Church Warden: Brenda Jarvis. 01278741227