Description

This list entry was subjected to a Minor Enhancement to update the text on the 22 September 2021
ST 6654
4/6

Midsomer Norton
HIGH STREET (north side)
Church of the Holy Ghost

(Formerly listed as Roman Catholic Church)

19.5.50

GV
II*

A Roman Catholic Church of probable C15 date, formerly a tithe barn which was restored and converted by Giles Gilbert Scott in 1907-13.

MATERIALS: constructed of red sandstone rubble with limestone dressings and buttresses. It has an old pantile roof with coped verges.

EXTERIOR: of six bays divided by two-stage, weathered buttresses. The third bay from the left (north) has a projecting gabled porch with a Grangers' room over and a wide three-centred elliptical archway (rebuilt) with a chamfered moulding.

There is a two-light window above the archway in the Perpendicular style with a square head, single transoms, original head tracery and a replaced rectangular drip-mould.

The front elevation of the porch is faced with limestone ashlar. The right-hand side wall has a pointed-arch, chamfered doorway and modern exterior wooden steps with a four-centred arch doorway leading to the room over. The wide inner doorway of the porch has been blocked and is pierced by a modern Gothic doorway with an ogee hood mould, the original iron door staples remain.

The corresponding doorway in the rear elevation (north-east) has also been blocked and retains the original oak lintel and iron door staples.

Between each buttress is a single loop window and there are three similar loops in the left-hand end (northern) gable. The right-hand end (southern) gable has two modern square headed Perpendicular windows and three buttresses.

There are stone cross finials on the end gables and the porch gable.

INTERIOR: the interior of the church has an open timber roof with arch braces and collar beams, and two purlins with curved wind-braces between. The loop windows have wide internal splays. The Grangers' room has an upper cruck truss and enriched wall plates (concealed).

HISTORY: this building had originally been a tithe barn, part of a grange for the Augustinian Priors based in Merton Priory, Surrey. It was converted into a Roman Catholic Church in 1907-13 by Giles Gilbert Scott as a mission of Downside Abbey. The church has a gilt tabernacle dating to 1794 from the Bavarian Embassy Chapel, Warwick Street, Soho.

References:
The Buildings of England: Pevsner N and Foyle A: North Somerset and Bristol: London: 2011-: 559.

Listing NGR: ST6636554234

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of the Holy Ghost, Midsomer Norton at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q5117906

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

• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments