Church of St Mary, Meare

The Church of St Mary stands in the Somerset village of Meare, beside the old abbey lands of Glastonbury. Built in 1323 for Abbot Adam of Sodbury, it is a Grade I listed building and one of the county’s oldest churches still in use. Local tradition places the church on the site of a small cell belonging to the 5th- to 9th-century monk Saint Beonna. His relics were moved to Glastonbury Abbey in 1091, long before the present church rose. The tower and chancel were added when the building was consecrated by John Droxford, Bishop of Bath and Wells. The church owes much to two later abbots. Around 1470 Abbot John Selwood began rebuilding the nave, and his successor Abbot Richard Beere finished the work. Inside, a stone pulpit from the 15th century survives, along with a wooden chest made in 1705 and a set of candelabra from 1777. The tower contains a peal of six bells, rung by the parish’s bell-ringers. Today the church belongs to the benefice of Glastonbury St John the Baptist and St Benedict with Meare. Visitors step into a quiet space where medieval stonework meets later wood and metal. The 15th-century pulpit stands against the north wall, its carvings worn by centuries of sermons. The chest of 1705 holds parish records in its iron-bound oak. Above, the tower rises above the nave, its six bells marking the hours. Outside, the churchyard holds yew and holly, and the fields of Meare stretch away toward Glastonbury Tor.