All-Saints-Monksilver-Church-Guide
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INTRODUCTION WELCOME TO this little gem of a church which is dedicated to the Glory of God and in honour of All Saints. Do have a good look around and say a prayer for those who built it and those who now try to maintain it for God's greater glory. We hope that you will find your visit to be a time of quiet, peaceful, reflection - unless, of course, you have come to take pan in a joyous celebration, such as a wedding or a baptism! As the Parish Church, it was built to serve people living in the Parish of Monksilver. That remains its primary function but now, as one of seven churches in the Quantock Towers Benefice, it also serves the wider community under the guidance of our Rector, the Rev'd Elfrida Savigear. In Monksilver, a village that has been continually occupied by humans for at least a thousand years, the church is both the oldest and, arguably, the most important building - for several different reasons. Each visitor will rank these according to their own experience and viewpoint. Not wishing to impose, we will treat them in alphabetical order:- Architectural: This is a successful building! T here is no reason to believe that it has not stood here for a very long time; the list of Rectors in the south aisle runs only from 1324 but it is probable that Priests were sent to minister here well before that. No building can survive for centuries without maintenance so there is a long history of modification lalteration Irestoration to be unravelled by the cognoscente. Historical: This is a building that has been in continual use for the same purpose for eight hundred or more years; families have worshiped their God, children have been brought here for baptism, couples have been wed and the dead have been buried. Records have been kept of all these events down the centuries and are the prime resource for local historians. [Only the the current books are kept here, but earlier ones may be examined, by appoinnnent, in the Somerset Records Office.] Local people have wanted their loved ones to be remembered after their death and the churchyard is rich with memorials of one kind or another. Religious: The primary purpose of the building has always been as a venue for services in praise of God. Details oflanguage, phraseology, ritual and ceremony have evolved over the years but the intentions have remained much the same. So, Before describing the many interesting architectural features, we wish to concentrate your attention on four very important items of 'furniture' which mark this building as a Christian Church; the Font, the Altar, the Lectern and the Pulpie. The Font The Font was the immediate focus of our attention as we came in; otherwise, we might have walked into itl (Fig. I). This siting is intentional, for the font's only use is during the sacrament of Baptism, the 'Christening' ceremony that welcomes new members into the fellowship of the Church. Sight of the font reminds all Christians 2 FIG. I . Church interior, as seen from the pulpit. Note the font, under its monumental wooden cover, the poor box and modem equ ivalent just inside the door. the bell ropes hanging down into the (curtained off) ri nging chamber and, to the right, the organ. of their own baptism and of the promises they made (or were made for them) during that service. A sacrament is a ceremony that incorporates an appropriate sign to commemorate an important event. In the case of baptism, Christians remember that Jesus received the H oly Spiri t follO\ving baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist - the first event in his life that is recorded in all four of the Gospels. Our sacrament of baptism is a prayer that we, too, will receive the H oly Spirit after bein g splashed wi th consecrated water. The A/tar Once inside the church, all eyes are drawn to the east window. Below it stands a symbolic altar - the focus for all servi ces other than Baptism. In ancient times, altars were the sites of sacrifices of one kind or another; but not in the Christian church. H ere they remind us of Christ's own "full , perfect and sufficient sacrifice" on the cross "for the sins of the whole world". T he altar, or Lord's Table, also serves as the 3 FIG. 2. From Font to Altar: Looking east up the nave to the chancel, and the altar standing beneath the east window .. The brass-topped poles, 'wands' , indicate pews occupied by the churchwardens. 'sideboard' when, in the sacrament of Holy Communion (Eucharist), we consume a symbolic meal of bread and wine in remembrance of the last supper shared by Christ and his disciples before the crucifixion. TbeLectern An injll11ction published in the name of King Henry vm, on 3 September 1538, charged parish clergy "That ye shall provide ... one book of the whole Bible of the largest volume in English, and the same set up in some convenient place within the said church that ye have cure of, whereas your parishioners may most commodiously resort to the same and read it." (You will notice that Henry had no intention of providing the bibles himself). Our lectern, in the fonn of a wooden eagle with outspread wings, obeys that injunction. 4 FIG. 3. FIG. 4. The Lectern, in its 'resting position'; in use it The Pulpit, from a photograph taken in 1933 is swung oul into the aisle TbePulpit Traditionally, this is where the preacher stands to deliver the sermon - nowad ays a short address designed to help a 21st century congregation to appreciate the meaning of the passage of scripture that has just been read from the Bible. MONKSaVER The name is generally considered to mean 'Monkswood' [silva = Latin for 'an area of woodland '] but other derivations are possible. The earli est written account to mention th e manor (that we know of) is the Exeter Domesday Book, commonly ca ll ed the Gheld Inquest of 1084. lt is also mentioned in the Domesday Book itself (1086), and is there called Selvre and Selui. According to the Domesday Book, the manor of Selver was held by Alured d'Epaignes (the Spaniard) whose daughter, Isabella, married Robert de Chandos (d. 1120), the Norman who is said to have added the territory around Caerleon, in Monmouthshire, to Norman England. Perhaps as an act of penitence, Robert and Isabella founded a Priory at Goldcliff (modern spelling) on the Gwent Levels in 1 J 13 , and endowed it with great possessions of lands, churches, tithes, et cetera, sinlate or derived from various parts of Somerset and Devon. Included in this were the church and land of the parish of Monksilver. T he following words relate to this portion of the gift in the deed which they executed :-"Et maneruim mewn in Somerset quod vocatur Selver cum omnibus pertinenbus suis Ecdesiam de Selver." [And my manor in Somerset with everything relating to the church at Selver.] 5 Caerleon • WALES Bristol Channel ENGLAND • Monksilver FIG. 5. An approximate map of the Upper Bristol Channel (modem coastline) to show the relative positions of Monksilver and Goldcliff If you think in terms of land-communications, travel berween Monksilver and Goldcliff would appear inconvenient to say the least. Not so by water; if you leave Watchet on a rising tide with a southwesterly wind you would be there in rwo or three hours. de Chandos was persuaded, by King Henry 1, to give his Priory to the Abbey of Bec, in Normandy, from which mother church a prior and twelve monks were dispatched get the place up and running. It is tempting to speculate that the Bec Abbey stonemasons came on to Somerset and rebuilt Monksilver Church, once they had finished the priory, for the present building dates from about that time. In the 14405, GoldcLiff PriOty was annexed to the Abbey ofTewkesbury, but it does not appear to have thrived thereafter. Early in his reign, Edward N (1461 -83) transferred the income (including rents due from MonksiIver) to the provost and fellows of Eton College; in 1475, the Dean and Canons of St George's, Windsor presented to the living. Not until L803, when the whole village was bought by The Revd George Notley was there a 'Lord of the Manor'; Dean and Chapter retained the advowson. This historical note is included to explain the, otherwise surprising, difference berween this and other local churches, for example, Nettlecombe. There, the walls and windows are resplendent with memorials; all to churchmen, to members of the family living in the Court or to their staff. In Monksilver, even if the villagers could have afforded memorials, none would have had the right to erect one in the church. ALL SAINTS CHURCH The church we see today comprises chancel and nave, with a south chapel and 6 FIG. 6. Monksilver Church from the southeast in 1836. Note the absence of a clock and the current ridge tiles. The stump of the medieval cross is in the foreground. directly in Jine with the rood tower. It is not possible to stand in this position now in order to take an equivalent photograph. south aisle, and a west tower; essentially the same structure as was drawn in 1836 (Fig. 6). The earliest written record of its presence was in 1291 but there was a church on this site long before that. Unlike the adjacent parish of Stogumber, no church was recorded here in the Domesday Survey but, as Neville Swinburn, a fonner incumbent, speculated in t.he first edition of tills guide, t.here may have been a simple building or perhaps just a cross and meeting place.