Welcome to St Bartholomew’s

Church Crewkerne

We are delighted at your interest in our Church, and would like to tell you a little about it. There has been a Church here for over a thousand years, and in Saxon times St Bartholomew’s was a ‘Minster’ with spiritual responsibility for a wide local area. However, the Church has been rebuilt several times since then, and what we see now is the result of a rebuilding in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century, when Crewkerne, like much of Somerset, was prospering from the wool and textile industry of that period. It is a superb example of the ‘Somerset Perpendicular’ style which has produced many of the country’s most beautiful Churches, and has many special features of its own.

Most famous, perhaps, is the magnificent west front which was probably inspired by the Royal Chapels. Like many other parts of the Church its splendid doorway is richly carved in the beautiful local Ham Hill stone, though the wear and tear of ages has eroded much of its finer detail.

The Church is also notable for the enormous variety of its window tracery, reflecting almost every variation of the Somerset style, and its lofty tower is an important local landmark and an excellent example of the regional type. Inside, the fan-vault of the porch is notable, and the nave surprises by its spaciousness and enormous height. There are many interesting mediaeval carvings, such as the ‘Green Man’, much better preserved inside than outside as it is protected from the weather. But it all needs a great deal of maintenance and looking after.

Promoting a Safer Church – Please click this link to view the details