View source for St Aldhelm's Church, Doulting

{{Short description|Church in Somerset, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox building
|image=St Aldhelms church Doulting.jpg|alt=Stone building with arched doorway and windows. The hexagonal tower is topped by a short spire.
|caption=
|name=Church of St Aldhelm
|location_town=[[Doulting]]
|location_country=[[England]]
|architect=
|client=
|engineer=
|construction_start_date=
|completion_date=12th century
|date_demolished=
|cost=
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|style=
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|map_type=Somerset
|coordinates = {{coord|51.1859|-2.5058|display=inline}}
}}
The '''Church of St Aldhelm''' in [[Doulting]], [[Somerset]], England, dates from the 12th century. It is a Grade I [[listed building]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Church of St Aldhelm | work=historicengland.org.uk | url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1217750 | access-date=2006-11-25}}</ref>
The dedication to [[Aldhelm|St Aldhelm]] is unusual and arises from the 8th century when King [[Ine of Wessex]] gave the local estate to [[Glastonbury Abbey]] after his nephew Aldhelm died in the village in 709.<ref name="scott"/><ref>Powicke, Sir F. Maurice (editor) [1939] (1961). ''Handbook of British Chronology'', p. 254. London: The Royal Historical Society.</ref> In his honour the local spring which is the source of the [[River Sheppey]] is called [[St Aldhelm's Well]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1221315 |title=Well head with pump at NGR ST 6468 4318 |access-date=2008-03-17 |work=historicengland.org.uk }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/Doulting%20CAA%20August%202006.pdf |title=Doulting Conservation Area Appraisal |publisher=Mendip Council |access-date=20 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611190055/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/Doulting%20CAA%20August%202006.pdf |archive-date=11 June 2011 }}</ref> The local primary school is also dedicated to St Aldhelm.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.staldhelms.co.uk/ |title=St Aldhelm's Primary School |access-date=17 March 2008 |work=St Aldhelm's Primary School }}</ref>
At the time of St Aldhelm's death in 709 it was a small wooden church.<ref name="robinson">{{cite book |title=The Saxon Bishops of Wells |url=https://archive.org/details/saxonbishopsofwe00robi |last=Armitage Robinson |first=J. |year=1918 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/saxonbishopsofwe00robi/page/n6 3] }}</ref> The church has a tall spire rather than the towers which are more usual in Somerset. It has a two-storey porch which incorporates a carving of the [[Green Man]] into its [[vault (architecture)|vaulting]].<ref name="scott">{{cite book |title=The hidden places of Somerset |last=Scott |first=Shane |year=1995 |publisher=Travel Publishing Ltd |location=Aldermaston |isbn=1-902007-01-8 |page=58 }}</ref>
Within the churchyard is a 15th-century stone churchyard cross, it has an octagonal stepped base with a square socket stone and square tapering cross, it is a grade II* [[listed building]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101345192-churchyard-cross-in-churchyard-church-of-st-aldhelm-doulting |title=Churchyard Cross in Churchyard, Church of St Aldhelm |access-date=2017-11-06 |publisher=British Listed Buildings }}</ref> The churchyard also contains a [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|war grave]] of a [[Somerset Light Infantry]] soldier of [[World War I]].<ref name=cwgc>[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/394390/VAGG,%20WILFRED%20STANLEY] CWGC casualty record.</ref>
In August 2007 the churchyard was excavated using a mechanical digger in order to install a [[septic tank]] for a toilet in the church. The digger broke through ancient graves, destroying human remains, this caused local residents to stage a [[sit-in]] protest to stop the work.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2007/08/30/church_bones_feature.shtml |title=BBC – Somerset – So Somerset – Neighbours protest to stop workmen disturbing their ancestors' graves |access-date=2009-07-29 |work=BBC News Article }}</ref>
{{Gallery
|File:Churchyard cross, Doulting, Somerset - geograph.org.uk - 1358164.jpg|Stone churchyard cross in St Aldhelm's parish churchyard
}}
==See also==
* [[List of Grade I listed buildings in Mendip]]
* [[List of towers in Somerset]]
* [[List of ecclesiastical parishes in the Diocese of Bath and Wells]]
==References==
{{Commons category|St Aldhelm's Church, Doulting}}
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doulting, Saint Aldhelm}}
[[Category:Church of England church buildings in Mendip District]]
[[Category:Grade I listed churches in Somerset]]
[[Category:12th-century church buildings in England]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Mendip District]]