St John the Baptist - Biddisham, Somerset
Posted by: 
SMacB
N 51° 16.602 W 002° 53.255
30U E 507841 N 5680602
St John the Baptist's church, Biddisham, retains some Norman features.
Waymark Code: WM16HPT
Location: South West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/06/2022
Views: 1
"The church is adjacent to the manor farm and consists of a two-bay nave with a S porch, two-bay chancel and a west tower. Construction is of squared rubble with some render remaining at the base of the tower. The church, including the lower part of the tower is basically 13thc in date. This lower tower leans markedly to the W, while the added or rebuilt upper part is more or less vertical. The rebuilding was done in the 15thc along with other work; there was a major restoration c.1860 and general repairs were carried out under the direction of G. C. Beech and Partners of Wells in 1961-63. The Romanesque work described here consists of the font and label stops in the form of heads reused on the exterior of a chancel window.
Biddisham is not recorded by name in the Domesday Survey, but was confirmed as a prebend of Wells cathedral by a grant of Edward the Confessor to Bishop Giso in 1065. The manor was assigned by Bishop Robert of Wells (1136-66) to pay for the maintenance and repair of the cathedral, but this seems to have been a temporary arrangement as it was claimed by Waleran de Wellesley and his wife in 1188. In 1205 it was restored to Wells to pay for repairs to the fabric.
Chancel S wall, W window -
The window itself is a square-headed, two-light Perpendicular window, but stops have been reused at the ends of the label.
E head. with close-fitting curly hair, furrowed brow, bulbous eyes, open mouth; in good condition.
W head. Human and male, surrounded by a neat hood and clearly bearded, with bulbous eyes and open mouth as E (but mouth not so widely open); in very good condition.
Font -
Located in the conventional position by the S door, at the NE angle of the S half of the nave. It consists of a plain cube-shaped bowl, chamfered at the upper rim and with its corners cut back. There are three scallops at the bottom of each face, that to the E being decorated (three pairs of what might have been intended as rosettes, that on the left being neat and coherent, the middle one being less so, and the third a really untidy jumble). The bowl stands on a plain cylindrical stem with a neat shallow collar providing the necking for an almost square block base, its upper angles chamfered back. This stands on a square block plinth, its top part chamfered and its corners cut back.
The very good lead is extended over the rim of the bowl and down the sides to a well-judged extent. There are the usual signs of previous lock-fittings being ripped off in the repairs to the bowl at the top of the N and S faces."
SOURCE - (
visit link)