Churches of the British Isles

A leper's squint is set into the north wall, a relic from when a leper's colony was sited in the nearby woods in the 1500s. The church boasts a Saxon font, a carved head on the north window which is part-cat, part-man, and later additions of the 1200s and 1400s. Although the site is remote and peaceful now, it was not so peaceful in 1280 when the chaplain was indicted for murder, 'having struck Albert of Esshe (Ash) on the head with a hatchet, and so killed him'.

Worthy Manor Chapel in Porlock Weir was part of the building which sits on the northern side of Worthy Toll Road, to the west of Porlock Weir. The manor house crouches under the wooded spur of Gore Point, dominated by Ashley Combe, seat of the Lovelace family. Although referred to as a manor, Worthy has never possessed manorial rights. The sixteenth century house contained a chapel with a 'fine waggon-roof, and a priest’s hole concealed' over the porch, since lost.

The former Porlock Weir Reading Room is on the south side of the beach road, about eighty metres east of 'The Ship Inn', and is the easternmost of the row of cottages pictured here. It is shown as a reading room on the OS 25-inch map of 1892-1914, but not on others. It seems to have been open by 1841 (thanks to another map appearance). Today it appears to be a private residence known as 'The Old Reading Rooms'. The cottages were probably erected in the 1700s.

The Church of St Nicholas is on the south-western side of Worthy Toll Road, around two hundred metres to the south-east of 'The Ship Inn' on the beach front. This typical 'tin tabernacle' church was erected about 1880. It has a small gabled porch, tiny belfry, and small-scale pointed arch windows. It is shown on the OS 25-inch map of 1892-1914 and remains operational to this day (2026), acting as a local chapel-of-ease for the parish church in Minehead (see links).

Porlock Weir Old Chapel was on the north-east side of Worthy Toll Road, about two hundred metres south-east of St Nicholas (see above). The OS 25-inch map of 1892-1914 shows 'Chapelknapp Cottage on the site of chapel', with the cottage today (2026) a B&B. The entrance hall is the last remaining part of the original chapel which was built in the 1100s, possibly St Olave's Chapel, and with the cottage itself being erected over and within the ruins in 1887-1888.

Photos on this page kindly contributed by Joseph Rogers (two), Mr Joel's Photography, Saxon Sky, and Huw Thomas (two), all via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group. Additional information by Huw Thomas.