Somerset
Blackford

St Michael

see the website at:  http://www.communigate.co.uk/twc/blackford/page15.phtml, ~
from which this picture comes.  Here is also a history of the church and village.
 
Extract from a communication from:
Jerry Sampson

Archaeological Consultant
Caroe and Partners Architects
   

At high level to the west of the western two light window on the south elevation of the nave is an area of softer marlstone from which the surface has eroded, and above this is a lintel stone (with a well preserved surface, since it lies immediately beneath the eaves of the roof) with ‘steps’ on its underside over the original opening, indicating that a small high-level square-headed window has been blocked up at this point.  At the base of this area is a long stone, which is probably the sill since it is positioned symmetrically with the lintel, its position and form suggesting that the window originally lit a west gallery.

Signs of a west gallery are also visible on the interior on the tower arch, on the southern jamb of which, overlapping the western chamfered face, is a rectangular whole-stone insert fixed with Portland cement between 190 and 205 cm up from the pavement and 16 cm wide, and opposite this on the north elevation is a taller insert between 192 and 232 cm up from the pavement, but also 16 cm wide and positioned across the angle of the western chamfer.  Above these inserts, on the same alignment, the tower arch has been cut back vertically above the springing on both sides to a height of 380 cm above the pavement on the south, and 382.5 cm on the north - evidently to accommodate a structure built across the inner face of the tower chamber.

There is no tower stair, so the west gallery must have been approached by its own integral stair.  It would presumably have projected at least 1 metre into the body of the church, with the high level window lighting its southern end.  The western jamb of the north nave window lies 156 cm west of the west wall, and that of the south window (now obscured by the organ and inaccessible for accurate measurement) lies in roughly the same position (measured at approximately 140 cm).

 
Blackford Church south exterior
http://www.communigate.co.uk/twc/blackford/
Here again is another view of the exterior fom the same website.
See details, aerial views and books on local history.
 
 
 

The Church

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