St. Benet, Kemerton

Introduction

The Catholic Church of St Benet's and its adjoining priest's house in Kemerton is a Grade II listed building, first listed on 02-Dec-1986. The church was built circa 1843 by a partner of Weightman and Hadfield of Sheffield.

History

The church took just under a year to complete. The parish has been served, from its foundation, by the Benedictines. The Benedictines in England, based at Douai Abbey in Berkshire, have supplied the parish with a priest since 1895. Downside Abbey and Ampleforth Abbey supplied priests before 1895.

The interior was painted plain white in the 1960s. Built in 1842-3 in the decorated style of English architecture, the church reflected the revival of Catholicism in England and Wales at that time. The parish holds an annual Game Lunch reflecting the nature of the Cotswolds. The parish hosts a curry evening as one of its social events.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built of limestone ashlar with machine-tiled roofs which have gable-end parapets with cusped gabled finials supporting cast iron cross finials and decorative ridge tiles. The church has a three-bay nave on north/south axis with east porch, sanctus bellcote and single-bay chancel. The interior has a pointed chancel arch with semi-octagonal responds and an arch-braced collar truss roof. Original fittings include a reredos with traceried arcading, cusped pointed piscina and three-bay sedilia, octagonal stone font and three-sided stone pulpit.

There is a west organ gallery, the organ having cusped open panels articulated by slender pinnacled buttresses and an embattled cornice. The decoration of the church is a faithful reproduction of earlier décor, dating from the early twentieth century.