THE TOWER
The Tower is of 15th century construction and has some fine grotesques overlooking the churchyard. Often the mason would use his own imagination when carving these and base them on local characters. Villagers sometimes speculate on whose ancestors were depicted in this way. The tower rises in two stages. In each face of the upper stage is a two light 15th century window with a clock face inset. Slight buttresses are set against the angles, which become slighter in the upper stage and terminate in pinnacles rising well above the battlemented parapet. The stairs are contained within a large buttress-like projection set against the south-east angle of the tower. This projection becomes octagonal, and it too is capped with a battlemented parapet.
On the south-east corner of the tower there is a stone sundial, set into the tower. Unfortunately the gnomon has disappeared, so the sundial is no longer in working order. However that deficiency is more than made up for by the splendid 19th century clock high up in the tower, with its bell faithfully chiming the hours. The clock, installed in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, is unusual in having four working dials, one on each face of the tower. The original cost was £117 - but replacement of the winding mechanism in 1996 cost £2500!
On Ascension Day as part of the early morning Communion service, members of the congregation used to climb the winding steps to the top of the tower to sing a hymn. The tower is also used at Christmas to display an illuminated Star, a beacon shining its message of the birth of Jesus for miles across the surrounding countryside.
The weathercock on the tower, added in 1989 in commemoration of the life of Nick Clemmow, was made by Steve Holland of Marston Magna, who also made the candelabra light fittings in the church.
The top of the tower boasts an unusual feature - a flagpole adapted from a yacht's mast - donated by Mr. Rossman in memory of his daughter Tina Rossman. From the roof there are magnificent views of the Village and its surrounding countryside in every direction - as far as Pilsdon Pen near Lyme Regis, and the Mendip Mast near Wells.