England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Pilton St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Pilton lies towards the eastern edge of central Somerset bring roughly 3 miles southwest of the market town of Shepton Mallet. Pilton is a large village which sits on and mostly east of the A361 road which links Shepton Mallet with Glastonbury. Whilst Pilton maintains a presence on the main road, there being the usual inns and other commercial facilities, most of the village is tucked away in a valley within the limestone hills that surround it. That limestone was important to the village economy, extensively quarried for building stone it marked a variation from normal farming activities, here the farming was largely pastoral. Modern developments came and went from Pilton, a branch railway line connecting Glastonbury into the main-line at Wincanton now being closed and largely dismantled. Pilton sits at the very eastern edge of the Somerset Levels where higher ground starts to rise, a small tributary, the Whitelake, drains westwards into the main Levels system, eventually merging into the River Brue and meeting the outer Bristol Channel through the port of Highbridge. Pilton occupies a valley site at around 50 metres above the sea, the northern edges being almost 30 metres higher up the valley side, land rises to the northwest to the local high spot of Worminster Sleight topping out at 135 metres. Pilton parish was an extensive one, quite a contrast to Somerset's many small acreages, covering almost 5,500 acres it was scaled like a northern upland parish and within that extensive area roughly 1,100 parishioners could be supported. In Domesday times Pilton assets were many and wealthy, held by nearby Glastonbury Abbey it could boast an impressive 36 ploughs, meadows, pasture & woodland and no fewer than 6 mills making it a very wealthy holding indeed and amongst the most populace in its county.

The Church

St John the Baptist's church sits just east of the A361 at the western end of the village, some early gazetteers state the dedication as St Mary. The earliest part of the church is a damaged and much-restored doorway in which Pevsner cites work of the late 12th century but this is speculative. The church has certainly been much reworked since that date notably in the late 15th century when it was extensively rebuilt at the expense of two Overay brothers. Surviving windows exist from the 13th century in the northern aisle demonstrating an earlier incarnation but it is the extensive Perpendicular work that is the most impressive feature of the church. Work commenced in or around 1451 and took over 40 years to complete resulting in a good example of the style. A noticeable feature, unusual in itself, is the clerestory which features in both the nave and chancel and was designed to improve internal lighting. Somewhat later is the tower which carries a date of 1506, again Perpendicular in style and showing an elegant stair-turret at its northeastern corner which begins as a square structure and morphs into an octagon. There is no mention in Pevsner of any Victorian restoration allowing us to appreciate the expense of the Overay's unblemished by later efforts. The immediate surroundings of the church, Shop Lane and Parsons Batch are both narrow and confined so this is a church best approached, after parking in the main part of the village, on foot. The churchyard occupies a steeply sloping site with entrances from both lanes through the surrounding local limestone walling. The church sits tight to the southern edge of the churchyard which makes the better aspect from outside the churchyard.