The church of St Mary the Virgin, Hemington
For a history of the church see the Hardington Vale Benefice website.
From the Bristol Mercury of Wed 22 Nov 1899 p5:
Hemington Church on Fire
Yesterday morning Mark Humphries, a labourer, of Hemington, discovered smoke issuing from the roof of the Parish Church of St. Mary Hemington. An alarm was immediately given, and the Radstock Fire Brigade, under Capt. Hugh McMurtrie and Hon. Surgeon Richard G. Worger, were soon on the scene. Before their arrival the church doors were opened, and the flames were soon apparent in the roof over the organ chamber and choir stalls. The brigade scaled the building and ripped off a portion of the lead roofing and heavy stones with which the edifice was covered. Buckets of water were raised to the roof by means of ropes and poured upon the burning mass, and the flames were soon subdued. The majority of the church furniture beneath the roof where the fire occurred was removed, but the organ was damaged by water, burning fragments, &c. The fire is supposed to have originated from a stove, which was last lit on Sunday, and everything appeared quite safe on Monday. The church is an ancient one, of fine Norman architecture, and a font within dates from 1260. The oak roof, probably many hundreds of years old, was considerably damaged, and a large portion of it totally wrecked. The fire in the stove had not been touched since the diner hour on Sunday, and was to all appearances extinguished or nearly extinguished on the Sunday evening after service.
In the report of the fire in the Bath Chronicle of Thu 23 Nov 1899 p3:
The church is an ancient stone edifice and was restored by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1859.
From The Western Daily Press of Thu 28 Apr 1932 p9:
HEMINGTON
Church Restoration Scheme.
At a general meeting held at the Falkland Old Schools, to make preliminary arrangements to organise efforts towards restoration work at the parish church, it was announced that Lord Hylton was extending keen interest and warm support for the scheme. The Rev. J. C. Steward presided, and gave a detailed report on the proposed work.
From The Western Daily Press of Mon 17 Aug 1932 p5:
HEMINGTON CHURCH
RE-OPENED.
After being closed for two months for restoration Hemington parish church of St. Mary was re-opened on Friday evening by the Venerable Archdeacon Farrer, of Wells. The church is a very ancient structure and was badly in need of renovating. The ravages of the death watch beetle were discovered when the work was commenced. Writing on the north wall was uncovered, and a Somerset expert (Mr Blevins) dates it to the 16th century. Lord Hylton, who owns much property in the parish, has contributed £150 towards the £400 needed for the work just completed. The work of rehanging the church bells has been postponed owing to the unexpected cost of restoration.
The harvest thanksgiving services took place yesterday, the Rev. H. V. Johnson, of Lullington and Orchardleigh officiating. The collections were in aid of the Bath United and Paulton Memorial Hospitals.
According to the Hardington Vale Benefice website in 2018, there are discussions with the Churches Conservation Trust “with a view to their assuming responsibility” for the church. (This organisation is the national charity protecting churches at risk and has charge of over 350 Anglican churches.) The church (but not the churchyard) was handed over on 17 Nov 2019 and work was planned to replace the whole roof from May 2020 and 'The churchyard will remain open under the control of the Rector of Hardington Vale parish but with, it is hoped, a local team of volunteers to take care of its upkeep.' (Hardington Vale News Spring 2020).
