BRIEF HISTORICAL GUIDE

The church was originally dedicated to St. Benignus or St. Bennings and retained this until the middle of the 17th century. Bishop Benignus was a great friend and disciple of St. Patrick and became his successor.

In 1091 the monks of Glastonbury took the relics of a holy man named Beon or Beonna from Meare to be added to the collection at Glastonbury Abbey; at his last resting place an oration was delivered and, after a liberal offering, a church was built on the site being consecrated around 1100. Unfortunately the monks confused Beon the hermit of Meare with Benignus the successor of St. Patrick, and the dedication was to St. Benignus rather than St. Beon.

The present church was thought to have been built on the same site around 1520 by Abbot Bere (1493 - 1524), a learned and cultured friend of Erasmus. You can see his monogram, RB, over the north porch, pictured right. By comparison with other Somerset churches, a date of 1473 is thought to be more likely. In the north porch can also be seen the little window used by lepers to receive the holy sacrament.

The church was built in the perpendicular style with a clerestoried nave and embattled west tower. The North aisle used to be a chapel, Sharpham chapel, where Sir Henry Gould, a justice of the peace to the King's Bench in 1699, is buried.

Around 1840 much of the stained glass was installed, details of which are summarised below.

The church was restored in 1885 when the North Aisle was rebuilt and the nave roof renewed.

The chapel in the South aisle was built by the Revd Allnutt in 1862 in memory of his two daughters who died aged 3 days and 14 years; a brass plaque records the sad details. It was furnished as a lady chapel by Preb. Townsend and dedicated in 1953.

The organ was installed in 1873 and rebuilt in 1927.

The carvings on the nave roof corbels are noteworthy. One bears what is known as the Arms of Joseph of Arimathea; the Greek cross with two cruets containing the blood and sweat of Christ which Joseph brought with him to Glastonbury. Another shows St. Benignus vested as a Bishop with a tree in his hand instead of a pastoral staff. With this he set forth to find St. Patrick.

The origin of the crucifix on the wall above the chancel arch is unknown.

THE WINDOWS

In this section, you can click on the pictures of the windows to open a new browser window or tab containing a large version of the image.

Until the time of Queen Victoria very few people could write, so Bible stories were made into stained glass windows which everyone could understand.

The original windows in St. Benedict's were replaced by the present ones around 1840 when the church was re- ordered.

Facing you on entering the north door are two windows donated by members of the Holman family. Starting from the right the first window contains three panels:

1. Joseph of Arimathea holding a staff from which the Holy Thorn is growing. Slips of this tree - which can still be seen in bloom at Christmas - have grown into mature trees in the Abbey, outside St. John's Church, and on Wearyall Hill. Also, a cutting is growing in the churchyard at the west end of the church. 2. St Paul 3. Dorcas, who was raised from the dead by Peter. (Acts 9:36 - 43). Note her sewing in one hand and her other arm shaped as though to carry children; also the basket of loaves in the bottom right hand corner.

The other window contains three panels: faith, charity and hope.

Behind the font are two story windows: the changing of water into wine and the raising of Lazarus. The clothes are typical of French gentlewomen around AD 1300.

The Lady Chapel, furnished by the Mother's Union, contains four lovely windows. They show the four Gospel writers and their trades or professions:

1. Matthew the tax collector. The angel with a scroll reminds us of the opening genealogy to the gospel which the Angel has inscribed on the scroll. 2. Mark, who was the first to write a Gospel. He came from the family of Ezekiel. The lion in the corner symbolises Ezekiel's vision of "a lion at his feet". 3. Luke, who was not a disciple and to our knowledge never saw Jesus. He was however commissioned to research the life of Christ. Luke's gospel begins with Zechariah the priest who would have made sacrifices according to the law which included an ox seen beside him. 4. John, who has a young face with no beard. Beside is the eagle to symbolise the carrying of the gospel to all, reminding us of his Gospel's opening words: "In the beginning was the word".

In the window above the main altar we are reminded of the fundamentals of the creed: Christ incarnate of the virgin Mary, crucified while the ladies kept their vigil, rose again according to the scriptures with the two Marys addressed by the angel.

Lastly looking westwards to the tower there is a window depicting Jesus addressing his followers beside the lake. When the sun sets behind the window the fish seem to gleam and the sea of Galilee comes to life.

The text of this page is available in a leaflet on the bookshelves by the entrance.

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