Churches of the British Isles

The church is built throughout of locally-quarried rubble. It consists of a nave, a rebuilt chancel, and an arcade of three bays. The low, broad west tower was largely rebuilt in 1901, but the tower arch towards the nave dates to the 1600s. The font is Norman, and the churchyard has been used for burials since the medieval period. The building was restored and refitted in 1887, and was fully restored with a tower rebuild in 1902, with that work by WH Farings.

Withypool (First) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is on the north side of the main street, directly above a westbound fork in the road, with the southern fork going towards Withypool Bridge. The OS 25-inch map shows this cottage as the chapel, now the 'Broadmead' private residence. It served as a chapel during the inter-war years, but post-war the cottage on its west flank (to the left here) became the chapel while this was kept until 1967, perhaps as a Sunday school or hall.

Withypool (Second) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is the white building on the hill to the right of the post office. The old chapel can just be seen to its right (see above). Now 'The Old Chapel', it served as Withypool Methodist Church in the post-war years until closure in 1967, having replaced the original 1881 chapel next door. Its walls were exposed local stone, while inside it could seat 110. Now it is a self-catering holiday cottage following two major renovations.

The Church of St Mary Magdalene, Exford, is on the northern side of Church Hill, around half a kilometre east of the Park Street junction. A Saxon church existed here until it was replaced by a Gothic building, probably in the late 1100s or 1200s. Little remains of that due to subsequent rebuilding efforts. Until at least the sixteenth century it was dedicated as the Church of St Salvyn. The reason for the alteration is not known, possibly taking place after restoration in 1893.

St Salvyn was a Celtic missionary from Wales who arrived to evangelise the new West Saxon masters of Dumnonia. The plain west Perpendicular tower was added in the mid-1400s, but much of the rest of the building dates to the 1860s. The 1893 restoration removed even some of that. The remainder of the original fabric consists of the south aisle, built as the result of a will dated 1532, plus a medieval screen from St Audries, West Quantoxhead (see 'related links').

Photos on this page kindly contributed by Huw Llewelyn, Keltek Trust, Somerset Bloke, Tony Ethridge, Huw Thomas, and Saxon Sky, all via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group.