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St Bartholomew's Oake
Services First Sunday Third Sunday Fourth Sunday Please see posters in the village for more information.
Visitors are always welcome; the church is usually open or a key is held at the village shop CHARITIES FOR 2012 Christian Aid NEW SPACE IN OAKE CHURCH We have a new space in the south aisle at St Bartholomew's. Four pews have been removed, creating a light and flexible area which will be used for quiet prayer, meetings and lay led services.We have ordered some chairs and hope to re use some of the oak to make a bookcase. SOME CHURCH HISTORY At our recent 'Back to Church' sevice the Rev Alison Norris told us some interesting facts about St Bartholomew's and our village. A church has been on the site for at least 700 years, though the base of the font is said to be Saxon and the oldest thing in the church. The porch through which we enter has been used by worshippers for 500 years, and as we look towards the altar, the oldest parts of the building are the chancel, the north wall of the nave and the base of the tower, all of which have been dated to the 13th century. The windows, which represent mostly 14th and 15th century work are remarkable in that every one is different. The north window is of particular interest and is said to have been brought to Oake from Taunton Priory after the Priory Church was dissolved in 1535. There it was probably a cloister window but it was installed in Oake the wrong way round, with the outerface of stone and bars on the inside. There is a glazier's inscription in beautiful copper plate half way up on the right hand side. The oak chair dates from the 16th century and the coffin stool and pulpit 100 years later. We have a record of baptisms, marriages and funerals going back to 1594. People often ask why the church is so far from the village. The bulk of the 'new' village was built at the end of the 19th century where there was a rail linkand proximity to a road leading to Taunton. The ancient village probably did exist around the church. One theory is that Oake was affected by the Black Death in the mid 14th century and little remains of that old village. In fact reference to 'Blagroves' linking the Taunton Road directly to the church is almost certainly a reference to BLAck death GRAVES, as found in other parts of the country. So a great deal of history sits within the church walls, the Saxons, the people at the time of the Domesday book and the Black Death, the people of the Tudor period, not knowing which way the king would want them to worship and the monks of Taunton who knew that part of their monastery had been preserved in a sacred building. We give thanks for those folk who have sat on these pews, who are named in our records, in the churchyard and on the walls of the church, their lives, their loves, their joys and sorrows, some we may remember, many will remain unknown.
HARVEST
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Oake Parish © Oake Parish 2006 |
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