St Michael's new and old

Image: © Neil Owen Taken: 15 Jun 2021

The church has origins in the very early eleventh century when it was part of the Abbess of Shaftesbury's control. In that century it was badly damaged by a fire and partly rebuilt. In 1451 the church was again rebuilt and enlarged by Thomas Beaushin of Cottles House, making the existing tower all that remains of that building today. By 1831 the church was in a fairly ruinous state and efforts to secure funding came in the form of the Incorporated Society for Promoting the Enlargement, Building and Improving of Churches and Chapels. It was at this point that the church's layout was substantially altered. In its early years the entrance was in the west, but in creating a new nave the door was opened in the west, connecting the two parts with a sort passage. The architect was Henry Edmund Goodridge (1797-1864), the Bath architect of Beckford Tower, The Corridor, Downside Abbey, Cleveland Bridge and many Italianate villas in Bath. Grade II* listed.

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