Somerset's numerous small villages and towns contain a fine selection of churches and other religious sites.

The following are some of the features that you can expect to find.

Bench Ends

The cardved banchends of Taunton Deane fall loosely into seven main types depending on whether they are of Christian, pagan or local origin.

Rood Screens

Like many of the fittings in the middle ages, screens were painted, and this must have added greatly to the effect of interiors. Wooden screen date from around the 13th century and imitate the styles of earlier stone screens.

Fonts

Although Saxon fonts are rare, there are a large number of fonts surviving from the Norman period, when they had become regular features in churches.

Towers

The quality of Somerset church towers is unique in England with them being very much part of English heritage from the Norman conquest onwards.

Churchyards

Many chruchyards proceed the buildings which now stand in them as places of religious significance. Some are older than Christianity.

Stocks

The churchyard was always meant to have a beneficial effect on criminals, with the existence of a power for good which might encourage villians to mend their ways. Implements of correction, such as stocks and whiping posts, were sometimes sited near the church, so that the unfortunate contained in them might benefit.

Lych Gate

The main entrance to many churchyards is under a roofed structure called a Lych Gate. The name is derived from the anglo-saxon, meaning corpse or body.