CHURCH.
The fabric shows that the church
existed in the 12th century. By 1245 the benefice
was a rectory and it remained a sole rectory until
1957, when it was united with Spaxton. (fn. 37) The
church closed in 1981, when the united benefice
was further united with that of Enmore and
Goathurst. (fn. 38)
The advowson evidently belonged to the
lords of Currypool manor in the 13th and 14th
centuries, being held or exercised by Joel
Vautort in 1245, (fn. 39) Hugh Vautort in 1310, (fn. 40)
Richard Champernowne in 1318, (fn. 41) the Crown
in 1320, (fn. 42) and Simon of Bradney in 1324. (fn. 43) A
dispute over the advowson was resolved by 1322
in favour of Robert Brent, and Robert Brent the
younger presented in 1324. (fn. 44) Thereafter for
more than a century the advowson descended
with Currypool manor. On the partition of the
estate between Richard Lyf's daughters Avice
Malet and Joan Tilley, the advowson was to be
shared, each presenting alternately. (fn. 45) Avice
Malet presented in 1427 (fn. 46) and Thomas Blanchard, Joan's son by her first husband, at the
next vacancy. Thomas Malet, Avice's grandson,
presented in 1472, (fn. 47) on the death of Blanchard's
presentee. About 1490 there was a dispute between John Blanchard, Thomas's son, and
Thomas Tilley, probably son of Thomas's half
brother Leonard Tilley, Thomas Tilley having
appointed to the living. Tilley seems to have
conceded to Blanchard in 1494 (fn. 48) although his
presentee remained rector until 1526, when
Hugh Malet appointed his successor. (fn. 49) The Tilleys, perhaps through failure of Blanchard's
heirs, retained the right to alternate patronage.
In 1562 George Speke presented after two rival
presentations the previous year by George Tilley's guardian Humphrey Walrond and by
Erasmus Pym, (fn. 50) and in 1581 John Malet
presented by grant of a turn by George Tilley. (fn. 51)
In 1604 Sir John Malet acquired the share of
Tilley's two daughters, and the whole was acquired by 1634. (fn. 52) The advowson thereafter
descended with Currypool manor until 1681
when Edward Clare and John Haviland
presented. In 1689 the patrons were Henry
Baynton and his wife Anne, (fn. 53) granddaughter and
coheir of John Malet (d. 1656). (fn. 54) Henry had died
by 1709 leaving a son John under age. (fn. 55) John (d.
1717) was succeeded by his nephew Edward Rolt
who added the name Baynton. Edward, later Sir
Edward Baynton Rolt, Bt., was succeeded in
1800 by his nephew Sir Andrew Baynton Rolt
and on Andrew's death in 1816 by the latter's
daughter Mary Barbara, wife of the rector John
Starkey. (fn. 56) Starkey held the advowson in 1835 (fn. 57)
but it was later acquired by Henry Labouchere
and descended with the Quantock estate. (fn. 58) Since
1920 it has been vested in the Martyrs Memorial
Trust, which exercises alternate patronage of the
united benefice. (fn. 59)
The church was valued at £10 in 1291, (fn. 60) at £11
6s. 8d. gross in 1535, (fn. 61) and at £120 c. 1668. (fn. 62) In
1827 the benefice was said to be worth no more
than £300 a year (fn. 63) but the average income in
1829-31 was £400. (fn. 64) The tithes were valued at
£45 a year in 1626, (fn. 65) and were commuted in 1837
for a rent charge of £283 3s. 8d. (fn. 66) In 1626 the
house and 86 a. of glebe were said to be worth
£56 a year. (fn. 67) In 1837 the glebe measured 82 a.
which remained church land in 1976. (fn. 68) The
former Rectory, sold and divided since 1951 (fn. 69)
and known as Charlinch House and Tudor
House, dates probably from the later 14th or the
earlier 15th century. Tudor House, the eastern
part of the building, had a three-bayed open hall
with an arch-braced cruck roof. Its east end was
altered and a smoke bay was built in the earlier
16th century. The south front, with stone mullioned windows, was an addition of the later 17th
century, when the house comprised a hall, parlour, and entry, all with chambers over, and
study, closet, and larder. (fn. 70) The house was enlarged on the west in the later 18th or earlier
19th century, possibly c. 1807 when the rector
was living at Padnoller. (fn. 71)
Two members of the Vautort family held the
living between 1292 and 1318: Joel was a pluralist and William took at least four years' study
leave before seeking ordination as a deacon. (fn. 72)
Two other early 14th-century rectors had only
minor orders. (fn. 73) There were two stipendiary
priests before 1534 besides the rector and a
curate, (fn. 74) and one of the stipendiaries became
rector in 1534. (fn. 75) There was an All Souls light in
the church in 1536. (fn. 76) John Moore held two other
benefices in 1562 (fn. 77) and was non-resident in the
1570s, when he employed a curate. (fn. 78) His successor, John Parsons, was said to be the brother of
Robert Parsons the Jesuit martyr (fn. 79) and was
resident though a pluralist. (fn. 80) Francis Crosse was
ejected in 1662. (fn. 81) John Baynton, rector 1769-
1806, was the son of the patron: he lived in the
parish for a time but towards the end of his
incumbency Charlinch was served by a resident
curate. (fn. 82) There were 20 communicants in 1776. (fn. 83)
Baynton's successor John Starkey, rector 1806-
34, was also patron but was often absent because
of his poor health. The parish was served by a
resident curate who held two Sunday services. (fn. 84)
John's son Samuel, rector 1834-46, was at first
non-resident, and his curate Henry Prince became notorious for his unorthodox teaching and
behaviour and had his licence revoked in 1842. (fn. 85)
In 1843 there were two Sunday services and
communion was celebrated four times a year. (fn. 86)
Samuel Starkey joined Prince's community at
Spaxton in 1846. (fn. 87) During the early 20th century
two services continued to be held but the number of Easter communicants declined from 51 in
1927 to 11 in 1941. (fn. 88) The last public service was
held in the church in 1981 (fn. 89) and the building
was then declared redundant. It was sold for
conversion to a house. (fn. 90)
The former church of ST. MARY, so dedicated by 1533, (fn. 91) is of local rubble and at its
closure comprised a chancel with north vestry
and organ chamber, a nave with south aisle or
transept and south porch, and a west tower. The
unbuttressed tower, taken down and rebuilt in
1863, (fn. 92) may, like the nave and chancel, be of
12th-century origin. There were transepts to
north and south, the former demolished, possibly in the 17th century, the latter perhaps
rebuilt as an aisle in the 15th or early 16th
century. The chancel was rebuilt in the 14th
century. A gallery recorded in 1833 (fn. 93) may have
been removed when the tower was rebuilt. (fn. 94)
Restoration in 1886 included rebuilding the
chancel arch and walls, adding an organ chamber
and boiler room to the north, replacing flooring
and seats, and rearranging fittings. The rood
stair was uncovered and the porch was restored
as a memorial to the 1887 jubilee. (fn. 95) Further
restoration took place in 1955. (fn. 96)
Church fittings formerly included a 12th-century font and a cover made in 1622. (fn. 97) The altar
railings were provided in 1634 following Archbishop Laud's visitation; (fn. 98) the communion table
had been replaced in 1629. (fn. 99) The reredos was
erected in 1893 in memory of Lady Taunton and
contained a copy of a 15th-century Italian painting presented in 1887. (fn. 1) There are traces of
15th-century glass in the south aisle.
The church plate included a chalice of 1630
and a flagon of 1766, now at Spaxton church. (fn. 2)
There were five bells; one dating from the late
14th century is now in a new church in Reykjavik, Iceland, and another was an early
16th-century Bristol bell. (fn. 3) In 1538 five bells
were brought from Bridgwater to Charlinch. (fn. 4)
One was recast at Charlinch by Robert Austen
in 1627, (fn. 5) there was another bell by Thomas
Bayley of 1743, and a fifth bell was added in
1919. (fn. 6) The bells were removed after 1981. The
registers date from 1744 but there are large gaps
in the marriages. (fn. 7)
Fragments of a churchyard cross were recorded
in 1791 (fn. 8) and three steps were shown in a drawing
of 1845 (fn. 9) but nothing now survives.
A chapel at Gothelney dedicated to St. John
the Baptist was mentioned in 1436 (fn. 10) and 1541. (fn. 11)