St Mary's Church Mosterton

George Pulman's book 'Battle of the Axe' describes the old church at Mosterton. See below.

Mosterton church, a chapel of ease to South Perrott, stood formerly at Chapel Court, about half a mile from Mosterton, in the direction of Crewkerne, where the churchyard still remains. The graves and tombs, away in the fields and apart from any building in connection withthem, are calculated to produce a solemn effect upon the thoughtful wayfarer along the adjacent turnpike road. The building was destroyed in 1832. It was in the Perpendicular style, with remains of an earlier date, and consistsof a nave and chancel, with a porched doorway on the north side. The nave was thirty-seven feet nine incheslong and thirteen feet wide. There was also a doorway under the western window. There were six windows in the nave.Four were of two lights each, with cinquefoil heads and trefoil-headed tracery. One window was modern, and consisted of a single light only. The western window occupied nearly the whole of the front. It was of four lights, with perpendicular tracery in the head. In one of the windows were fragments of stained glass. The rood-loft staircase was in a circular turret in the north-east corner. The Ceiling was coved and ribbed. The chancel, fifteen feet three inches long by twelve feet six inches wide, communicated with the nave under a pointed arch. It was lighted with two windows. The east window was of two lights, with trefoil heads and a quatrefoil in tracery. The other was a single-light window only. The west-end wall of the nave was elevated above the ridge of the roof, and was pierced with two apertures, on one of which was a bell. The angels of the building were strengthened with buttresses, and the apex of the castern wall of the nave was surmounted with a plain stone cross. The font was an octagonal stone basin upon a cylindrical pedestal.

Among the tablets in the old church was one to the memory of 'Elizabeth Hood', who died August 2, 1745, aged 43 years. The noble family family of Hood belonged originally to Mosterton, and over the porch of what is now the New Inn - evidently the remains of a respectable family residence - are the initials H A A and the date 1748. In this house I was once shown a small brass taken from the old church. It was in memory of some members of a family named Clarke, descendants from which are still in the neighbourhood, and contained the following quaintly expressed sentiment : - 'Its true Fair Tombs does do ye deed no Good, Yet shows ye Doner's Love and Gratitude'

Pulman explains the use of South Perrott as a burial ground for Mosterton residents.

Formerly the interments were exclusively at South Perrott, where a particular part of the churchyard was specially appropriated to Mosterton. Among the records upon the tombs in the old and long-closed burial ground are the following :- Edward Hunt,died August 11, 1833, aged 60. Ann his wife, October 17, 1828, aged 51. Children of Robert and Judith Waldon, 1862 and 1865. Mary, wife of Job Gibbs, August 12, 1834, aged 62, and John James, their son, aged 26, November 11, 1862. Martha, daughter of John and Mary Vincent, June 15, 1805, aged 32.

'When this you see, Remember me, As I lie in the dust; Take my advice, Repent in time, For Providence is just.'

John Vincent, September 9, 1810, aged 68; Mary his wife, Sept. 29, 1810, aged 67. William Pearce, February 21, 1830, aged 82, Grace his wife, June 15, 1832, aged 61. Also a grown-up son, a daughter, and a granddaughter. Helen Grace Clark. Elizabeth Pearce, 1776, aged 54, and other members of her family. Betty, wife of john Gibbs, August 27, 1776, aged 29, and Mary, their infant daughter. Thomas Brown, March 11, 1822, aged 82; and Martha his wife, August 26, 1799, aged 65.

'Reader, beware! Thy life is frail,-- Short as the passing gale thy breath! Then, when temptaton does assail, Think of the icy hand of Death. Here once I stood, as thou dost now, And view'd the dead (:) as thou dost me. Ere long shalt thou thus lowly bow, Whilst others stand and gaze on thee.'

Henry Daubney, September 12, 1822, aged 70; and Sarah his wife. William Vincent, October 3, 1843, aged 77; mary his wife, December 10, 1826, aged 39; two sons, and a daughter.

'Thou can'st not escape me. The aged and young -- The wise and the foolish - the feeble and strong - The bold and the coward -- the freeman and the slave - All, all are my victims, for I am the Grave. Come, take up thy cross and sincerely begin To turn heav'nward thy face and seek pardon for sin. Thy Saviour alone from destruction can save;- Despise not my warning,--for I am the Grave!'

Henry Gibbs, February 13, 1848, aged 19. Elizabeth, wife of William Murley, September 15, 1827, aged 61; and Benjamin her son, August 11, 1824, aged 30. May, 'widow of the late Robert Grovos, of crewkerne, and daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Wakely.' Thomas Wakely, September 5, 1843, aged 93; William, March 7, 1838, aged 80; Thomas, May 1, 1861, aged 82; John, January 20, 1836, aged 69; and other members of the family. The firs by which the little burying-ground is now surrounded were planted by Mr John Wakely since the church was removed.

Pulman goes on to describe the new Mosterton church. He's not very impressed!

The new church was built in the centre of the street, half a mile from the site of the old one, and therefore in a far more convenient situation, although it would appear from the foundations of buildings dug up from time to time in Chapel Close that the hamlet itself ran away from its church and has now been followed up and overtaken by it. The building was finished and consecrated in 1833. It has not a particle of architectural merit, and consists merely of a nave and chancel, lighted by imitations of Early English lancet windows, furnished with weather mouldings resting upon corbels of unique design. There is a tower at the west end containing one bell, and a porch on the north side. A gallery crosses the western end of the nave, and the pulpit and reading desk are placed one on each side of the chancel arch. The pews admit of three hundred and fifty-nine sittings. The builder of the church was a whimsical individual of whom it would be uncharitable to speak severely in an architectural or any other sense after reading the inscription upon his tomb in South Perrott churchyard. Some years before his death he caused his grave to be dug, as well as that of his wife, who was also living, the two graves being separated from each other by a wall of single bricks, through which was an aperture for the convenience of the buried couple's shaking hands when in some imaginary state of existence which the old man's silly fancies had suggested. The inscription is as follows:- 'To the memory of Elias Dawe, who died June 23, 1847, aged 72 years; and also of Elizabeth his wife, who died March 23, 1848, aged 83 years. The above was a carpenter for this parish and Cheddington 52 years, and never served any apprenticeship, or ever went to school one day in his life. He builded two churches in his time. He was old in years, in honors, in wisdom, and in virtue. Hisafflictions were sanctified, and laying hold of that hope which brings a man peace at the last, he closed a life of usefulness by a death of tranquility.'