Churches of the British Isles

Lynch Chapel of Ease served nearby Selworthy Church (see below). It sits on the west side of the main Bossington/Allerford lane, Lower Lynch. There is no pre-1800s evidence about the farm or the old chapel which was restored in 1885. Before that it had been used as a barn, possibly since the Reformation, and even its dedication has been forgotten. The farm is generally thought to have been the former Bossington manor house, with its attached chapel.

All Saints Church, Selworthy, is located on the northern side of the road, directly to the north-east of Holnicote and the A39 road. The church was a relatively late arrival, being built in the fifteenth century in this village which is nestled within Exmoor National Park. The Grade 1 listed building with its Perpendicular windows is situated on the side of the hill, with breathtaking views across the Porlock Vale countryside, facing towards Dunkery Beacon, the highest point on Exmoor.

Unusually the fifteenth century church has a fourteenth century west tower. Plain in construction, it is in the Early Perpendicular style with just a crenellated top for embellishment. The south aisle was added in 1538 by the Steynings family, then lords of the manor. The comparatively plain north aisle was built by the Arundel family of Cornwall, who held the relatively isolated manor of Selworthy in the seventeenth century, along with the nearby manor of East Luccombe.

The church is the only such building in the district which still is periodically coated with a mixture of lime and tallow to protect it from the elements. Until the start of the 1900s most local churches would have been similarly treated. At the west end of the nave is one of the best designed galleries in the country. From 1750 onwards, the musicians occupied it and the congregation turned around to face them during the psalms. An organ was provided by the parishioners in 1879.

Burgundy Chapel in Combe stands at the head of the combe of the same name, about two kilometres north-north-west of Woodcombe near Minehead on the South-West Coastal Path. It was excavated in the 1940s and 1985, the remains comprising a small ruined building about which very little is known. Thanks to its position near the side of a cliff it is thought to have been a votive chapel, erected in thanksgiving for a safe escape (from Burgundy?). It was a ruin by 1717.

Photos on this page kindly contributed by Richard Clarke Photos, Joseph Rogers (two), Bill Boaden, and Keltek Trust, all via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group, and one photo copyright © Roger Cornfoot via Geograph, reused under a cc licence.