St Andrew's Church, Mells

St Andrew's Church is a notable Church of England parish church located in the village of Mells in the English county of Somerset. The church is a grade I listed building.

History

The current church predominantly dates from the late 15th century and was built in the Perpendicular style with mid 19th century restoration, although a previous church stood on the site for centuries. In 1292 it belonged to Glastonbury Abbey and was valued at 35 marks.

The tower is from 1446, and has a clock from the 17th century, and a ring of 8 bells, hung for change ringing, the earliest of which dates from 1716. That bell, the fourth of the ring, and the seventh (1717) were cast by the first Abraham Rudhall of the bellfounders Rudhall of Gloucester. Two more (the third and eighth) were cast in 1745 by Thomas Bilbie, and the sixth (1788) by William Bilbie of the Bilbie family of bellfounders. The other three bells, (the first, second and fifth) were cast in 1869 by Mears & Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. There is also a sanctus bell hung in the roof of the chancel which dates from around 1325 which is on the national database of historically important bells.

The church has close connections with the local Asquith family and the Horners who lived at Mells Manor.

Notable burials

• Siegfried Sassoon
• Ronald Knox
• Sir Maurice Bonham Carter
• Baroness Asquith
• George A. Birmingham aka James Owen Hannay
• Christopher Hollis
• Katherine Asquith, widow of Raymond Asquith
• Reginald McKenna (in the McKenna family grave)

Features

The interior includes a reredos made from white marble, and a marble altar in various colours with a Norman font. There are also several stained glass windows dating from around 1850.

The building has several important decorative features, including:

• a stained-glass window by William Nicholson,
• a white gesso plaque of 1886 by Edward Burne-Jones to Laura Lyttelton (Burne-Jones created a gilded copy of the memorial which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum),
• a tapestry after Burne-Jones by Lady Horner,
• a bronze wreath designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, with lettering by Eric Gill, to Raymond Asquith, (Lutyens also designed Mells War Memorial) and
• an equestrian statue by Sir Alfred Munnings (on a base by Lutyens) to Edward Horner, who fell at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. The quality of the statue lead to Munnings being commissioned by the Jockey Club to create a bronze of the racehorse Brown Jack.

Organ

The church has a two manual pipe organ dating from 1880 by Vowles. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.