Church of St John the Baptist, Hatch Beauchamp

The Church of St John the Baptist in Hatch Beauchamp, Somerset, England, was built in the Norman period and has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[1]

Church of St John the Baptist
Location within Somerset
General information
Town or cityHatch Beauchamp
CountryEngland
Coordinates50.9856°N 2.9902°W / 50.9856; -2.9902

The church has a crenellated 3-stage tower from about 1500. It displays crocketed pinnacles, a pierced parapet with quatrefoils and arcades in the merlons and gargoyles.[1] The church has diagonal buttresses to support the tower whereas, in other churches, angle buttresses are the norm. The buttresses, which finish in the belfry stage, support small detached shafts which rise upwards to form the outside subsidiary pinnacles of each corner cluster.[2] On the stonework are hunky punks of dogs.[3] The chrcuh was restored in the 19th century with extra bays being added to the north and south aisles by George Gilbert Scott in 1867.[4]

The church includes a window dedicated to the memory of Colonel John Rouse Merriott Chard (1847–1897) who was an English soldier who won the Victoria Cross for his role in the defence of Rorke's Drift in 1879.[5]

It is a church within the Seven Sowers benefice which includes Curry Mallet, Beercrocombe, Orchard Portman, Staple Fitzpaine, Stoke St Mary (with Thurlbear) and West Hatch. It is within the archdeanery of Taunton.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Church of St John the Baptist, Hatch Beauchamp". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  2. "Hatch Beauchamp Church". Hatch Beauchamp. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  3. Wright, Peter Poyntz (2004). Hunky Punks: A Study in Somerset Stone Carving (2 ed.). Heart of Albion Press. pp. 101–110. ISBN 978-1872883755.
  4. "Church of St John the Baptist". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  5. "Lt. John Rouse Merriott Chard (Royal Engineers)". RorkesdraftVC. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  6. "St John the Baptist Church, Hatch Beauchamp". Retrieved 20 October 2012.


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