St Dunstan's Church, Baltonsborough Explained

Church of St Dunstan
Location Town:Baltonsborough
Location Country:England
Completion Date:15th century
Map Type:Somerset
Coordinates:51.1105°N -2.6562°W

The Church of St Dunstan in Baltonsborough, Somerset, England, was built in the 15th century. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[1]

The dedication honours St Dunstan who was born in Baltonsborough in 909, and eventually became Archbishop of Canterbury and an important monastic reformer of the Anglo-Saxon period.[2] Legends attached to Dunstan portray him nailing a horseshoe onto the devil, earning him a place as a patron saint of blacksmiths.

There is a four bay nave and two bay chancel.[1] The nave is particularly wide and has caused stress in the roof and an outward lean in the north wall.[3] The church's simple Somerset tower is topped by an elaborate ironwork weather vane crafted by the local blacksmith in the 19th century.[4] The interior includes a 15th-century font.[1] The screen was designed by Frederick Bligh Bond.[3]

The churchyard contains war graves of a Somerset Light Infantry soldier of World War I and a Royal Navy sailor of World War II.[5]

The parish is part of the benefice of Baltonsborough with Butleigh, West Bradley and West Pennard, which is known as the Brue Benefice.[6] [7]

One former vicar of the church was Edward Mellish who was awarded the Victoria Cross in World War I.[8]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Church of St Dunstan. historicengland.org.uk. English Heritage. 16 May 2009.
  2. Book: Dunning, Robert . A History of Somerset . 1983 . Phillimore & Co . Chichester . 0-85033-461-6 .
  3. Book: Dunning. Robert. Fifty Somerset Churches. 1996. Somerset Books. 978-0861833092. 18–21.
  4. Book: Pevsner, Nikolaus. The Buildings of England, South and West Somerset. 2003. Yale University Press. 0-300-09644-5.
  5. http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/43681/BALTONSBOROUGH%20(ST.%20DUNSTAN)%20CHURCHYARD
  6. Web site: St Dunstan, Baltonsborough. Church of England. 12 September 2011.
  7. Web site: St. Dunstan's Church. Mendip Council. 12 September 2011. dead. https://archive.today/20120904175912/http://www.mendip.org.uk/baltonsborough/st_dunstans_church/. 4 September 2012.
  8. Web site: Licence of the Rev. Edward Noel Mellish VC. to Perpetual Curacy of Baltonsborough.. National Archives. 23 January 2016.