Summary

Three commemorative tombs of the late C17 and mid- to late C18.

Description

All are of dressed limestone and are rectangular in plan with weathered, hipped slab tops.

The southernmost tomb, to members of the Moore family, dates from the late C17 and early C18. It has a moulded plinth with fielded pilasters to the corners and the centre of the north and south sides. Between the pilasters to the north and south faces are inscribed slate panels with floral ornament. The cornice is moulded and the frieze has floral emblems set in small square panels.

Some 4m to the north-east is a late-C18 chest tomb to the Greenhill family. It has pilasters with incised panels and there are two inscribed lias panels of to both the north and south faces, although one of the southern panels is missing. The cornice has a moulded edge as does the slab top. The inscriptions are largely weathered away, but the names of Sarah and Benjamin Greenhill and the date of 1786 are discernible.

The third tomb, a monument to the Board family, is located immediately to the north-east. It has mid and corner pilasters with roll mouldings and plain central panels; inscribed fielded panels to the north and south faces. The earliest decipherable date to the north face is 1758 for Mary Board; the inscriptions to the south face are largely illegible. The west face has a panel with a shaped cartouche with carved foliate decoration above. The cornice, which is broken (2012), is plain.

History

The village of Kilmersdon is situated in a hollow some 2 miles to the south of Radstock. Its parish church, dedicated to St Peter and St Paul (Grade I), was founded in the Norman period, but the fabric is substantially C15/C16 with C19 restoration. The churchyard contains a number of noteworthy tombs of C17 and C18 date.

Reasons for Listing

The group of three tombs in the churchyard of the Church of St Peter and St Paul is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: as good examples of late-C18 chest tombs; for their design, carving and commemoration of prominent local families;
* Group value: with each other and with other listed funerary monuments in the churchyard as well as the Grade I listed Church of St Peter and St Paul;
* Design: the chest tombs in churchyard represent a good and extensive collection of classical and local traditional tomb forms.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26628745

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.

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