Off the Beaten Track in Somerset: December 2022

Saturday, 17 December 2022

St Andrew's Church, Stogursey

St Andrew's Church in Stogursey is a particularly interesting church and is a grade 1 listed building. It was built c1090-1100 by William de Falaise. He and his wife Geva gave it to the Benedictine Abbey of Sainte Marie de Lonlay, which is near Falaise in Normandy, c1100-1107. Monks from Lonlay arrived in Stoke Courcy in 1120. The village was called Stoche (Stoke) at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. The Courcy was added when Emma, the only child of William de Falaise married William de Courcy.

The priory church was enlarged c1180 when the apses were demolished and a choir and two side aisles were built. The Priory of Stoke Courcy was considered to be an alien house, as it was staffed by a prior and monks from the mother house in Normandy and its profits were sent there. It was never a large or rich priory.

After war broke out between England and France in 1295, alien priories were taken over by the Crown, but the monks were allowed to continue living there. They were sequestered and dissolved by Henry V in 1414. The revenues of the estates of Stoke Courcy Priory were used by Henry VI in 1440 to endow Eton College. The Priory church became the parish church. The rest of the priory was demolished. In 1921 Eton College sold off most of the Stoke Courcy estates but they kept the Priory Farm, the tithes and the patronage of the church.

The church was restored and altered in the 15th century and the south aisle became the chapel for the Verney family. In around 1500 the nave and the choir aisles were rebuilt and a north porch was added. The Fairfield chapel was built in the angle between the nave and the south transept.

The nave was extensively rebuilt and the roof was replaced in 1824 by an architect called Richard Carver. The sanctuary and chancel were rebuilt 1863-65 by the architect John Norton. The Fairfield chapel was demolished at this time.

The floor of the church was excavated 1939-40 by the Reverend Basil Tucker, who was vicar from 1925-53. He was looking for the remains of the medieval church. He changed the layout of the church and the levels of some of the floors. He also set a fossil of an ichthyosaurus in a piece of blue lias stone into the floor of the north transept. It was probably discovered in the Street area and was moved into the church from the burnt-out ruins of Corner House in Shurton.

The church contains two Norman fonts, one of which came from St Andrew's Church in Lilstock. The other font has four heads carved around the top.

There are a number of 16th century carved wooden bench ends, one of which depicts a spoonbill with an eel in its mouth: this is thought to be an image unique to Stogursey. The bench ends were probably carved by a man called Glosse c1524-9

A very ornate chandelier was given to the church by John Bayley of Bridgwater in 1732. It was restored in 1906 and again in 1963.

The church's Elizabethan wooden pulpit was sold c1863 and replaced by a stone pulpit. The original pulpit is now at West Huntspill Church. The stone pulpit was replaced by the present one, which was built by Reverend Tucker in the 1940s from a Jacobean reading desk, which came from an unknown church in Essex.

The wooden funeral bier was presented to the church by the Rev Clement Malet when he retired in 1919.

The east capital of the north transept arch has a creature carved on it, which has the body of a horse but the head of a lion.

The Verney Chapel contains tombs of the Verney family and their descendants, the Palmers, Wroths and Aclands. These people all lived at Fairfield, which is a manor house a mile to the west of Stogursey.

Low down on the south eastern pier of the crossing there is a sanctuary ring. In the Middle Ages people accused of crimes could seek sanctuary in a church or cathedral if they touched the ring. They could then swear an oath agreeing to stand trial or confess to the crime and to leave the country and never return. After 40 days if they still hadn't agreed to confess or stand trial, they couldn't be removed from the church, but they could be starved into submission. If they agreed to leave the country but arrived at the port and there was no ship ready to set sail, they had to wade into the sea up to their knees or neck to show their inability to leave. Sanctuary was abolished by an Act of Parliament in 1623.

Due to various alterations and the 1940 excavations different parts of the church are on different levels. The floor of the crossing slopes, there are steps up in the chancel and more steps up to the sanctuary.

The Green Man

The best definition I have found for the Green Man is the following by Clive Hicks in his book The Green Man: A Field Guide (published 2001):

"The Green Man is an image and an idea. It is the image of a human face associated with foliage and it is the idea that makes real the connection between humanity and nature. The image personifies the idea."

The earliest Green Men in Britain, probably arrived with the Normans but the majority of Green Man images are found carved in wood or stone in medieval churches and cathedrals. They are also found in some European countries, especially France and Germany.

The Green Man is also used as a name for a public house in England, although there are none in Somerset (the closest are in Barnstaple, Kings Stag (Dorset) and Bristol).

The term Green Man was first used by Lady Raglan in 1939. Before this time they were usually described as "foliate heads".

No medieval written records have been found about Green Men, so their original meaning is shrouded in mystery. They may have their origins in ancient mythology, which lives on today in folk customs, for example May Day celebrations, which sometimes include a character known as Jack-in-the-Green and have the theme of regeneration/rebirth. Alternatively their origins may lie with "wild-men" who lived in the woods on the fringes of society in the Middle Ages, for example Robin Hood. Or they could come from an innate part of the human psyche where the Green Man symbolises the realisation and acceptance that humanity and the world are inseparable.

There are three main types of Green Men:

Have faces formed of leaves
Have faces where foliage comes out of the face, usually the mouth but occasionally the nose, ears or eyes. This is the most common type in medieval carvings in England
The face is set amongst the foliage.

There are very few Green Women and only a few animals: usually cats, lions, dragons or birds.

There are a few theories as to why so many Green Men are found in British churches:

They are a customary decoration
They are a witness to the events of the Christian story: Nativity, Crucifixion, Last Judgment etc and the cycle of life
They are there to teach us to behave better and to deter us from sinning

Post medieval Green Men are mostly decorative, rather than having a symbolic meaning. In the Victorian period they were often used as decorations on churches, houses, municipal and commercial buildings, monuments and fountains.

Somerset has more than its fair share of Green Men. Here are a few I have spotted:

Bench end, Monksilver Church

Roof boss, Raddington Church

Bench end, Clayhanger Church

Bench end, Crowcombe Church

Roof boss, St Cuthbert's Church, Wells

Bench end in Churchstanton Church

Bench end in Cothelstone Church

Corbel in St Andrew's Church, Banwell

Capital, St Andrew's Church, Banwell

St Andrew's Church, Clevedon

St Nicholas's Church, Withycombe

This is an animal, rather than a man

St Nicholas's Church, Withycombe

This is an animal, rather than a man

St Nicholas's Church, Withycombe

Gate of Lydeard St Lawrence Church

Green man carved into the stonework of the side wall of the Boston Tea Party in Corporation Street, Taunton

Is this a green man?
He is on the wall of a cottage opposite Aisholt Church

Bench end in St George's Church, Dunster

Green Man next to the 'Welcome to Wiveliscombe' sign

Green man carved on the 16th century font in Brompton Ralph Church

Green man on a bench end in Cheddon Fitzpaine Church

Green Man, west end of St Michael's Church, Creech St Michael

St George's Church, Bicknoller