Church without dedication, High Ham

The Church without dedication stands in the quiet Somerset village of High Ham, a short walk from the manor it once served. Built of local stone with Hamstone dressings, it follows Gothic lines with a three-bay nave and two-bay chancel. A three-stage tower rises above the fields, its corners braced by buttresses and its eaves lined with gargoyles. Two bells hang in the tower, one cast before 1350 and the other around 1500, while fragments of 15th-century stained glass still catch the light in the windows. The church was begun early in the 17th century by Sir Edward Hext and completed in 1690 by Baron Stawell for a manor house that was never finished. The gateway intended for the house was moved instead to Hazlegrove House. Inside, visitors find a Jacobean pulpit, a wooden chancel screen, and a stone screen brought from St Mark’s Church in Bristol. Monuments to the Hext and Stawell families line the walls, recording generations of local landowners. The building is set among open fields, its tower visible across the flat Somerset Levels. The simple nave and chancel give a sense of quiet continuity, while the older glass and bells hint at the centuries it has witnessed. The church remains part of the Diocese of Bath and Wells, its Grade I listing recognising its historic importance.