A Late 19th or Early 20th Century Interior of St. Petrock's Church, Looking Toward the Chancel and The Eastern End of the South Aisle
Title
A Late 19th or Early 20th Century Interior of St. Petrock's Church, Looking Toward the Chancel and The Eastern End of the South Aisle
Subject
Description
A late 19th or early 20th century photograph, used as a postcard, of the interior of St. Petrock's Church in Timberscombe.
An earlier church is believed to have been established on this elevated site, at the crossing of two ancient tracks and near a ford, possibly between 500 and 600 A.D.(1) and possibly by St. Petrock. "Petrocus "in Latin, "Pedrog", in Welsh, "Petroc" as known in Cornwall, Petrock was the younger son of a Welsh king, Glywys Cernyw of Glywysing, possibly living from 468 to 564 and who turned down a chance to rule in conjunction with his brother, leaving to study religion in Ireland (2). Later he and his followers founded churches throughout Devon and Cornwall, where he is a patron saint, buried at Padstow. At some point on his journeys, St. Petrock apparently found his way across the border to Somerset and "Timbrecombe", as the village was called in the Domesday Book (3).
A more scientific evidence of predecessors on St. Petrock's site occurred between March and June 2020 when a trench was dug across the southern side of the church's ancient churchyard. The intent of the dig was to connect mains while installing modern facilities. However the trench, which was certainly being monitored, also exposed incontrovertible signs of Saxon settlement, likely of a religious nature, that could be carbon dated as 777 A.D. (4)
Built of local red sandstone and random rubble, the current version of St. Petrock's, as photographed here, existed by the early 12th century, enlarged in the 1500's and remodelled in the 1880's (5). The main entrance is the North Porch on the north side of the church, facing the heart of the village. Having passed through the it, via the church's 15th century door-- with hinges surviving from the 1200's, the oldest surviving items in the church (6)-- the nave is entered through the wider space visible between the two pews on the lower left of the photograph.
Further along the interior north wall, an old door is visible, within the wall, raised up from the floor. Behind this door is a narrow stone stairway that led to a rood loft that was over the late 15th century hand carved, fan vaulted rood screen (7), seen here dividing the nave from the chancel. In this area of Somerset, where so many pre-Reformation church artifacts were destroyed, this rood screen survives (one can wonder if it was spared because it contains carvings of a Tudor rose). In Victorian times this screen was painted, apparently with alternating flourishes of blue and a "sickly salmon". Residues of the salmon are still be found (8).
Past the rood screen is St. Petrock's chancel, built in the mid-15th century and extensively restored in 1862 by E. Christian (9). This was presumably Ewan Christian (1814-1895), a British architect, known for scores of church restorations he supervised across the county but most remembered as the designer of the National Portrait Gallery in London (10). In front of the rood screen, to the right is a Jacobean pulpit, described as "Fine" by English Heritage. There seems to be a lectern to it's left, possibly replaced around 1955 by an oak lectern built by Mr. William Schofield of Steart Farm and designed by James Henderson of Allercott Farm (11).
Hanging over the nave, at the top centre of the photograph are three hanging lamps. These will later be replaced with new lamps hanging from ironwork created by Sam Grabham (1887-1971), a Churchwarden and a Timberscombe blacksmith, from a Timberscombe blacksmithing family (12). This likely occurred c. 1936, around the time the church was electrified (13). On 28 August 1939, the Managers, members of the Timberscombe School' s Board of Governors, were looking to illuminate and heat a schoolroom newly set up in a barn at Duddings's Farm in Cowbridge, to teach children who had been evacuated to Timberscombe at the outbreak of World War II. The Managers inquired if the lamps seen in this photograph were still available. Unfortunately they learned that the former church lamps "had been disposed of soon after the electric light was installed" (14).
On the bottom right of the photograph is the 15th century church font with its stone carved into octagonal panels (15).
Above the chancel and nave is the barrel roof, renewed during further Victorian restorations in the early 1880's, overseen by the notable architect, John Dando Sedding (1838-1891), born in Eton and who became the diocesan architect of Bath and Wells, excelling at the restoration of many smaller parish churches across western England (16). Two and a half of the Perpendicular arches are visible on the right. Dated c. 1530, their supporting pillars divide the nave from the early 16th century south aisle (17).
Part of the church organ can be seen in the former chapel on the aisle's eastern end. The organ came from Knowle Manor, donated by Ladies Margaret and Constance Ryder and Lady Audrey Anson, in memory of their brother, Major the Honourable Robert Ryder, killed in 1917, during World War I at the Battle of Cambrai in France (18). Past the organ and glimpsed between the pillars, the eastern window of the south aisle is visible. Other stained glass windows in the church date from the 1880's restoration, with this window still containing three original and ancient fragments, including an angel's head and a letter "S" that suggests an amphisnena, a two-headed dragon or serpent (19).
The postcard is labeled "Interior" at the bottom centre. It was bound along with eleven other postcards of Timberscombe in leather binding and was owned by Timberscombe's Huxtable family and shared in 2019 by Maurice Huxtable. Holes can be seen on the postcard's edge, from its binding.
A very similar photograph was taken by Herbert Henry Hole, baptised at Crowcombe in 1836 and who died at Williton in 1900. Mr. Hole's photograph depicts the same view of the church, with the same fixings, taken a few steps further back than this photograph. His version is labeled, quite differently as "THE CHURCH, TIMBERSCOMBE. 3.", in white lettering. It is certainly possible that this photograph could be by Mr Hole. It is also possible that it could have been taken by Herbert John (Bert) Hole, the son of Herbert Henry Hole, also a photographer. The younger Mr. Hole was born in Williton in 1871, mainly worked from his studio at Watchet and died at Williton in 1915, but would have been very familiar with St. Petrock's. On 28 July 1902, Bert Hole married Timberscombe born Alice Maud Williams here (20). The lettering used for the "Interior" at the bottom of this photograph is similar to that used in other Bert Hole photographs.
An earlier church is believed to have been established on this elevated site, at the crossing of two ancient tracks and near a ford, possibly between 500 and 600 A.D.(1) and possibly by St. Petrock. "Petrocus "in Latin, "Pedrog", in Welsh, "Petroc" as known in Cornwall, Petrock was the younger son of a Welsh king, Glywys Cernyw of Glywysing, possibly living from 468 to 564 and who turned down a chance to rule in conjunction with his brother, leaving to study religion in Ireland (2). Later he and his followers founded churches throughout Devon and Cornwall, where he is a patron saint, buried at Padstow. At some point on his journeys, St. Petrock apparently found his way across the border to Somerset and "Timbrecombe", as the village was called in the Domesday Book (3).
A more scientific evidence of predecessors on St. Petrock's site occurred between March and June 2020 when a trench was dug across the southern side of the church's ancient churchyard. The intent of the dig was to connect mains while installing modern facilities. However the trench, which was certainly being monitored, also exposed incontrovertible signs of Saxon settlement, likely of a religious nature, that could be carbon dated as 777 A.D. (4)
Built of local red sandstone and random rubble, the current version of St. Petrock's, as photographed here, existed by the early 12th century, enlarged in the 1500's and remodelled in the 1880's (5). The main entrance is the North Porch on the north side of the church, facing the heart of the village. Having passed through the it, via the church's 15th century door-- with hinges surviving from the 1200's, the oldest surviving items in the church (6)-- the nave is entered through the wider space visible between the two pews on the lower left of the photograph.
Further along the interior north wall, an old door is visible, within the wall, raised up from the floor. Behind this door is a narrow stone stairway that led to a rood loft that was over the late 15th century hand carved, fan vaulted rood screen (7), seen here dividing the nave from the chancel. In this area of Somerset, where so many pre-Reformation church artifacts were destroyed, this rood screen survives (one can wonder if it was spared because it contains carvings of a Tudor rose). In Victorian times this screen was painted, apparently with alternating flourishes of blue and a "sickly salmon". Residues of the salmon are still be found (8).
Past the rood screen is St. Petrock's chancel, built in the mid-15th century and extensively restored in 1862 by E. Christian (9). This was presumably Ewan Christian (1814-1895), a British architect, known for scores of church restorations he supervised across the county but most remembered as the designer of the National Portrait Gallery in London (10). In front of the rood screen, to the right is a Jacobean pulpit, described as "Fine" by English Heritage. There seems to be a lectern to it's left, possibly replaced around 1955 by an oak lectern built by Mr. William Schofield of Steart Farm and designed by James Henderson of Allercott Farm (11).
Hanging over the nave, at the top centre of the photograph are three hanging lamps. These will later be replaced with new lamps hanging from ironwork created by Sam Grabham (1887-1971), a Churchwarden and a Timberscombe blacksmith, from a Timberscombe blacksmithing family (12). This likely occurred c. 1936, around the time the church was electrified (13). On 28 August 1939, the Managers, members of the Timberscombe School' s Board of Governors, were looking to illuminate and heat a schoolroom newly set up in a barn at Duddings's Farm in Cowbridge, to teach children who had been evacuated to Timberscombe at the outbreak of World War II. The Managers inquired if the lamps seen in this photograph were still available. Unfortunately they learned that the former church lamps "had been disposed of soon after the electric light was installed" (14).
On the bottom right of the photograph is the 15th century church font with its stone carved into octagonal panels (15).
Above the chancel and nave is the barrel roof, renewed during further Victorian restorations in the early 1880's, overseen by the notable architect, John Dando Sedding (1838-1891), born in Eton and who became the diocesan architect of Bath and Wells, excelling at the restoration of many smaller parish churches across western England (16). Two and a half of the Perpendicular arches are visible on the right. Dated c. 1530, their supporting pillars divide the nave from the early 16th century south aisle (17).
Part of the church organ can be seen in the former chapel on the aisle's eastern end. The organ came from Knowle Manor, donated by Ladies Margaret and Constance Ryder and Lady Audrey Anson, in memory of their brother, Major the Honourable Robert Ryder, killed in 1917, during World War I at the Battle of Cambrai in France (18). Past the organ and glimpsed between the pillars, the eastern window of the south aisle is visible. Other stained glass windows in the church date from the 1880's restoration, with this window still containing three original and ancient fragments, including an angel's head and a letter "S" that suggests an amphisnena, a two-headed dragon or serpent (19).
The postcard is labeled "Interior" at the bottom centre. It was bound along with eleven other postcards of Timberscombe in leather binding and was owned by Timberscombe's Huxtable family and shared in 2019 by Maurice Huxtable. Holes can be seen on the postcard's edge, from its binding.
A very similar photograph was taken by Herbert Henry Hole, baptised at Crowcombe in 1836 and who died at Williton in 1900. Mr. Hole's photograph depicts the same view of the church, with the same fixings, taken a few steps further back than this photograph. His version is labeled, quite differently as "THE CHURCH, TIMBERSCOMBE. 3.", in white lettering. It is certainly possible that this photograph could be by Mr Hole. It is also possible that it could have been taken by Herbert John (Bert) Hole, the son of Herbert Henry Hole, also a photographer. The younger Mr. Hole was born in Williton in 1871, mainly worked from his studio at Watchet and died at Williton in 1915, but would have been very familiar with St. Petrock's. On 28 July 1902, Bert Hole married Timberscombe born Alice Maud Williams here (20). The lettering used for the "Interior" at the bottom of this photograph is similar to that used in other Bert Hole photographs.
Creator
Anonymous (but possibly by Herbert Henry Hole or Bert Hole)
Source
Date
late 19th century or early 20th century
Contributor
Format
Language
English
Identifier
Interior of St. Petrock's Church / Timberscome / Village Centre
Acquisition Date
2019
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PLACES: Churches and Chapels / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
Entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2020
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
11 X 17.5
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) "THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH" by B. L. K. Henderson and G. O. E. Henderson, printed by E. Goodman & Son, Ltd., The Phoenix Press, Taunton, 1955 (2) earlybritishkingdoms.com/ bios/ pedrogg (3) "THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH" (4) "The Parish Church of St. Petrock, Timberscombe, Somerset, The Results of Archaeological Monitoring", Ref: 18-30/2020, April 2021, by James L. Brigers, PA, PROSPECT ARCHAEOLOGY, Middlezoy, Somerset (5) English Heritage, British Listed Buildings.co.uk (6) "St. Petrock's Church Timberscombe", a church pamphlet by Marion Jeffery, 2017 (7) English Heritage (8) as quoted from "Roodscreens and Roodlofts" by Frederick Bligh Bond and the Rev. Dom Bede Camm , Pitman, London, 1909 by David and Jerry Sampson in "TIMBERSCOMBE St Petrock " Somerset Churches Project, August 2019, Archaeological Assessment 2019, prepared by Dr. Sampson and Mr. Sampson (9) "St. Petrock's Church Timberscombe" (10) en.wikipedia.org>wiki>Ewan_Christian (11) "St. Petrock's Timberscombe " (12) Sam Grabham's older cousin was William Grabham, blacksmith at the Old Forge, Timberscombe and his son was Kenneth Grabham, blacksmith at Cowbridge Mill, as recalled in 2018 by Sarah Hill, of Minehead, Kenneth Grabham's daughter (13) TimberscombeVillage.com/ History of Timberscombe/ Other Historic Structures. The Reading Room, 1913-1944, written by Lesley Webb (14) Timberscombe School MINUTE BOOK, 1930-1974, pages 95-98 (15) English Heritage (16) victorianweb.org>art>architecture>sedding
(17) "THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH" (18) "Timberscombe's Fallen of World War I ",compiled by Harvey Grenville, produced for St. Petrock's Church and the parish of Timberscombe, 2014 (17) "St. Petrock's Church Timberscombe" (19) "TIMBERSCOMBE St Petrock", Somerset Churches Project, August 2019, Archaeological Assessment 2019, by David and Jerry Sampson, Buildings Archaeology (20) "Secure the shadow: Somerset Photographers 1839-1939" by Robin Ansell, Allan Collier and Phil Nichols, The Somerset & Dorset History Society, 2018 and Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914
(17) "THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH" (18) "Timberscombe's Fallen of World War I ",compiled by Harvey Grenville, produced for St. Petrock's Church and the parish of Timberscombe, 2014 (17) "St. Petrock's Church Timberscombe" (19) "TIMBERSCOMBE St Petrock", Somerset Churches Project, August 2019, Archaeological Assessment 2019, by David and Jerry Sampson, Buildings Archaeology (20) "Secure the shadow: Somerset Photographers 1839-1939" by Robin Ansell, Allan Collier and Phil Nichols, The Somerset & Dorset History Society, 2018 and Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2020
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-055
Technique
Copy
Citation
Anonymous (but possibly by Herbert Henry Hole or Bert Hole), “A Late 19th or Early 20th Century Interior of St. Petrock's Church, Looking Toward the Chancel and The Eastern End of the South Aisle,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 14, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3207.
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