St Mary's Church is in the centre of Cannington - its Church tower is the tallest building in the village.
There has been a church in Cannington since Saxon times. The manor of Cannington was held by the crown at the time of King Alfred the Great, and it was still a royal manor at the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066. We know that there was a church in Cannington at the time of the Domesday Book, when a priest named Erchenger is mentioned.
In 1138 the church was given by Robert de Curci of Stogursey as part of his endowment of Cannington Priory. Though the church stands very close to the Priory site, it was never a monastic church but served the people of Cannington as a parish church.
After the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, the lord of the manor of Cannington held the patronage of St Mary's. It later passed to Oxford University and then to the Bishop of Bath and wells (Baby Eating if Blackadder is to be believed)
The oldest part of the present church is the west tower, built in the 14th century. The nave is slightly later, built from 1375-1400. The rest of the church was rebuilt in Perpendicular Gothic style in the 15th century.
Interior highlights include a 15th-century font and a fragmentary memorial brass to Joan, wife of William Dodesham, who died in 1472. An earlier (1440) brass commemorates William's parents William and Ellen.
Perhaps the best historical highlight is the wagon roof, decorated with original medieval carved and painted bosses. There are 131 bosses in the nave and chancel combined.
In the vestry is a pier and attached column that originally formed part of the 12th-century chancel arch.
The Child of Cannington
At the base of the pulpit steps is the grave of the Child of Cannington. The 'child' was apparently a young woman, thought to be a pagan princess or perhaps an early Christian saint, whose grave became a site of veneration. In 1975 the Child was reinterred inside the church, and a wooden statue carved by a local sculptor, with facial features based on the Child's skull.
Examination of the skull suggests that the Child was about 16 years old when she died, but who she was or why her grave became a place of veneration is not known. Every year a replica of the statue is given to a local resident for services to the Cannington community.
To find the cache solve the Jigsaw below:
Cannington - Child Jigsaw
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