The church, which consists of chancel, nave, north and south aisles, south porch and west tower, was rebuilt in 1868, and with the exception of the font, does not contain much of interest; the font is, however, worth seeing. It is is circular in shape, decreasing slightly in size at the centre, which is surrounded by a twist pattern, not cable moulding; beneath the twist is a scallop pattern. The upper portion of the font is divided into eight panels; in one there is a figure of a bishop arrayed in chasuble and holding a staff; next to this is another figure, apparently in chains; there are also represented a king, a lord and a lady, and an elephant. It is difficult to date the font, it might be Norman, but if the elephant was sculptured from life the font cannot be earlier than the 13th century as, according to Matthew Paris [ca. 1200-1259], the first elephant was seen in England in 1255, when King Henry III [r. 1216-1272] received one from Louis IX [r. 1226-1270] of France. It has been suggested that the lord and the lady may be intended for Lord William de Briwere and his wife; he was the founder of Dunkeswell Abbey, died in 1226, and was buried before the high altar of the Abbey church. The presence of an elephant on a font is appropriate, as there was an ancient belief that the elephant brought forth her young in the water, and the animal thus became a symbol of the new birth in the water of baptism. The carvings on the font are much worn and difficult to make out; the elephant will be found on the west side .
The present Church of St Nicholas is at least the fourth on the site and was built between 1865 and 1868. Since 1868, the major change has been the replacement of the original tower, considerably and dangerously weakened by the vibration of the engines of the Dunkeswell based US Navy Liberators and Catalinas of Fleet Air Wing 7, from 1943-45. The tower had to be demolished urgently in 1947, not to be rebuilt for another seven years. In 1959, the bells were restored to the Tower. There is an eight sided Norman font with intriguing figures in the arcade of columns.
Go to the above co-ordinates and look for the grave of Keith John Daniells 21.C.1927-1B.A.1999 and his wife Isabel Rose 1.8.1F3D-2.7.201E
The cache can then be found at N 50.51.ABC W 003.13.DEF
“If anybody would like to expand this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first at churchmicro@gmail.com so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication. There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page found via the Bookmark list”