Made with Xara St Mary’s Info The Benefice Choir Left to Right Chris Denman (organ/piano/ choirmaster), Liz Denman, Marie Wheatley, Diane Waters Jenny Hillman, Margaret Hooper, Ruth Cannon Anna Terrill, Cilla Caswell, Phyl Lawrence, Grace Dives Dick O'Neill, Denis Cannon and Ken Dives The Church of St. Mary The Virgin The Perpendicular church of St Mary the Virgin is sometimes described as a miniature cathedral.  It is mainly early 16th century, built on the site of an earlier Norman church of which the porch remains. In the southwest corner of the churchyard is the round dovecote typical of the 15th and 16th centuries.    The Nave and Isles     Being 36 feet wide but 50 feet high gives the nave a very lofty feel, reinforced by the graceful and equally lofty Perpendicular arcades to the north and south aisles and the beautiful perpendicular west window.  The chancel arch and paneled perpendicular tower arch both rise so close to the roof as to almost pass unnoticed.  The wagon roof has delightful carved corbels of figures holding shields and the main timbers of the aisle roofs spring from corbels on pilasters reaching all the way to the floor and effectively separating the large windows.   There is a modern decorative ironwork rood screen and matching pulpit on a stone base.  Modern stone screens at the eastern end of both aisles forms small chapels; the north chapel dedicated to St Saviour now houses the organ while the simple chapel or 'Our Lady of Pity' remains in the south.     The Chancel The beautiful Perpendicular east window dominates the chancel but the reredos, built into the wall above the altar, is flanked by large, ornately canopied niches with double pilasters.  A trefoil-headed piscina is in the east wall.                  The Tower This tower, 96 feet high, is associated with those at Shepton Beauchamp and Hinton St George and was probably built by the same team of artisans.  The chief feature in common is the single two-light bell opening of the top stage projecting down into the third stage and containing West Somerset tracery.  The setback buttresses step at each stage and terminate at the top of the third stage.  Pilasters continue to the top of the canopy becoming a pair of short crocketed pinnacles in each corner.  A similar short pinnacle arises from each centre merion and each of these has a subsidiary outrigger pinnacle.  Unlike Shepton Beauchamp, the transom of the bell openings does not align with the string-course course.   The tower still bears the marks of being struck by lightning on 29th July 1894 when many memorials and the 16th century bells were destroyed.  The repairs took exactly one year to complete and Tower Day is commemorated each year with a service of thanksgiving partly held on the top of the tower.  The west doors were damaged at the same time and a local craftsman, Arthur Parkin, made new ones.  They are carved with small animals and a row of armorials - Cardinal Wolsey, Bishop Kennion, Henry VII (the church was built during his reign) and Edward VII (the doors were made during his reign).  The author of the inscription on a blue ribbon "The door of life is death, and life a long returning" is unknown.                                                                                    West Door having been refurbished A SIGNWRITER’S TALE. Cecil Gillman, the President of the Norton sub Hamdon Local History Society rang me and asked if I could pay a visit to St. Mary’s Church, Norton sub Hamdon to look at the West door with a view to refurbishment. On turning the corner of the bell tower I was confronted with a work of art in carved oak, with various animals, flowers and Coats of Arms. The paint was badly faded, the timber dry and cracked, but I could see the potential. “Can I do it justice?” With my observations and costs accepted, it was time to make a start on cleaning the old faded paint work. I realised there were more colours originally involved than I had imagined. The door opens in two parts so I was able to work on one side, using the other as a pattern, which was useful. Undercoating and applying two gloss coats over several days, the colouring started to lift the carvings and a slow transformation began. The background colours were finished and the next process was to paint in the details on the crests etc. which when done really brought things to life. The final decoration was applying the gold leaf to the crests and the text “The Door of Life is Death and Life a Long Returning”. Gold leaf is applied by painting the area with gold size (similar to varnish), then 22 carat gold, which is in three inch squares on tissue paper, is pressed on to the gold size and it sticks only on that area. The final process was to apply three coats of wood oil to the bare oak panels which darkened the timbers slightly and emphasised the paintwork. I hope I did it justice and I did enjoy spending a week of my working life at Norton sub Hamdon leaving behind something that will be seen for many years. “Better lock the door and go home”. Robert Maddick - Yeovil. Church Clock at St. Mary’s, Norton sub Hamdon   Our Clock is unusual.  It strikes the hours and quarters – but it has no faces to keep us on time between the quarters.  There is a story behind this – which is probably not true, if ‘thought through’.  It was said that quarry owners on Ham Hill would not allow faces on the clock because, had they been able to see the time, the quarry workers would have ‘clock watched’ towards the end of the day, instead of continuing to work until they heard the time to finish!   The clock is a beautiful piece of traditional engineering, housed in a case in the Church Bells Ringing Chamber, about two thirds of  the way up the Tower.  What is particularly interesting is that the movement is the same, but on a smaller scale, as the Great Clock  of Westminster (known popularly as Big Ben – but that is the hour bell). This was specially designed by Lord Grimethorpe and works with a gravity escapement to cause the least interference with the pendulum.   Until about 30 years ago the clock was wound by hand – three times a week someone had to climb all the stairs and wind it.  If you have been up the Tower you will know what a hard climb that is!  John Bentley, the Church Bells Ringing Captain, was one of them who says that the clock winding was hard work also John Lynas who looked after the clock for 15 years. Then, about 30 years ago, an electric winding system was put in and upgraded approximately 15 years ago by a contractor  supervised by Mike Cudmore and John Lynas. This system was quite ingenious, using small motors and long narrow chains  to lift relatively light weights up a long height - from way down the Tower. Inevitably, the fragile chains wore out and the  whole system had to be replaced.   The Friends of Norton Church (FNC), led by Peter Thomas our Rector, organised a funding campaign to raise almost £5,000  to pay for a new, modern clock winding system. All this activity took place during 2006 and the new system was installed and  commissioned early in 2007. The motors and weights are much bigger and operate in the clock cabinet itself. For the new  winding system, it was found necessary to upgrade the electrical system in the Church and to the latest standards, including  very expensive specialist cable required for public buildings. This cost in excess of £3,000 which was paid for by the FNC from  its on-going fund-raising events.