MSO8847 - St Mary's Church, Brompton Regis (Building)

St Mary's Church is marked at SS 9514 3149. [1] St Mary's church consists of chancel, nave, south transept, north aisle, west tower and south porch. The tower is 13th century and was added to an earlier nave and chancel. About 100 years later the south wall of the nave was altered, and early in the 14th century the south transept appears to have been built, but of this only a little walling remains. Early in the 16th Century the north aisle was added. In 1853-54 the church underwent a drastic restoration with much rebuilding and removal of old fittings. [2] Listed Grade B, the Church of St Mary is a small, plain, mainly perpendicular building, with some restored, decorated windows. It contains a nave, chancel, north aisle, south porch, and west tower. It has a plain two stage tower, with diagonal buttresses to the lower stage, an embattled parapet, and single bell chamber windows. The interior has an arcade of four bays, "Devon" capitals to some piers, an unceiled wagon roof to the nave, and a 17th century carved wooden pulpit. [3] Additional reference. [4] The church is in normal use. [5] St Mary's Parish Church has a 13th century tower. In c1490 the nave was rebuilt with the north aisle, and was restored in 1853 and 1885 when reroofed. The chancel was rebuilt and the south transept added. The tower was restored in 1895, and the chapel restored in 1962. There is a single storey gabled porch, 19th century pointed arch outer doorway, and a 15th century moulded pointed arch inner doorway, partly renewed with a 19th century door. The pointed arch opening between the chancel and nave now giving access to the pulpit, which is dated 1625. The font is 19th century. The organ in the south transept has a plaque that reads: "Restored George Ormond, Taunton"; the pipes are painted battleship grey. This may be the same "pretty organ case in the Arts and Crafts style" that Pevsner commented on. [4] The organ is said in the church guide to be by T.C. Lewis, 1872, and the case dated 1897. [7] A white marble Nowy-headed tablet on a black marble backboard commemorates Lieut. Fenwick C Stevens of the Kings Own RLR, who died on 7th September 1918 at Arras, France, in World War One. [8] An archaeological watching brief was required during drainage works undertaken in conjunction with the construction of toilet facilities and the erection of a Tea Bar within the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Limited disturbance was caused to the existing internal fabric of the church during the removal of Victorian pews and the consolidation of the existing floor. [10] The building was visited in March 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 6. [11] Works to form new drainage to the south and west of the tower were monitored by Prospect Archaeology in 2019. Several burials were seen that predated the 13th Century tower foundations and a feature that may represent a component of an earlier church was also noted below the southwest corner of the current nave. [12] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [13] The building is labelled "St Mary's Church" on the 2022 MasterMap data. [14]