Description

ORCHARD PORTMAN CP
ST22SE THURLBEAR

5/95 Church of St Thomas

25.2.55

GV I

Parish church. C12, C14 chancel rebuilt, C15 tower built and church refenestrated, chancel refenestrated and north
chapel demolished c1850, 1856 tower restored. 1861 church restored and refitted, north aisle arcade taken down and
restored. Roughcast over rubble, squared and coursed blue lias tower, Ham stone dressings, nave, chancel and aisles all
under same slate roof, coped verges. Plan: chancel, 4-bay nave, narrow north and south aisles, south porch, west tower.
Crenellated 3-stage tower, diagonal buttreses west end, setback buttresses east end, string courses, gargoyles, 2-light
louvred bell openings, cinquefoil headed window below, Perpendicular mullioned and transomed 4-light west window,
moulded pointed arch west doorway, C19 door, north east stair turret; south front 2-light windows flanking single
storey gabled porch, pointed arch opening, plaster board with applied half-timbering to interior, moulded arch inner
doorway, C19 door; south front of chancel lancets flanking blocked Tudor arch doorway, diagonal buttresses to east end,
3 lancet windows, lancets to north front flanking engaged semi-circular pillar, three 2-light windows to north aisle
between stepped buttresses, blocked moulded pointed arch opening. Interior: rendered. Plastered barrel vault to nave,
monopitch roofs to aisles, ribbed roof to chancel. Four bay arcade of C12 circular piers with scalloped capitals. C19
wooden chancel arch carried on angel corbels, squint in sout east wall, moulded semi-circular tower arch. Blocked
ogee-head opening to rood stair at east end of north aisle, three quarters of blocked Tudor arch opening in north
aisle. Norman circular font. C19 fittings, including Romanesque style arcaded panelling to choir stalls and screen to
tower. Pulpit. No monuments of note. The engaged column on the exterior of the chancel belongs to a chapel or transept
that was demolished in the mid C19. (Sixsmith, A History of Thurlbear, 1956; Pevsner, Buildings of England, South and
West Somerset 1958).

Listing NGR: ST2658821110

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Thomas at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q5117726

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

• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)