St Mary the Virgin, Tarrant Crawford

In a gentle valley above the River Tarrant, this simple and evocative church is all that remains of Tarrant Abbey, a rich and celebrated Cistercian nunnery founded in the 13th century. It may have been a lay chapel to the Abbey. The earliest part of St Mary’s, the chancel, dates from the 12th century, while the nave, tower and porch are mostly 14th century. The church remained largely untouched until 1911 when major restoration work was undertaken. Mediaeval wall paintings cover most of the walls of the nave, catching your eye as soon as you walk into the church. Though somewhat faded, they still give a vivid impression of warmth and colour. It is unusual for such an early set of paintings to survive comparatively undamaged. The earliest, in the chancel, is 13th century and consists of a simple masonry pattern with roses. On the south wall, dating from the 14th century, are scenes from the life of St Margaret of Antioch, one of the most popular saints of the later Middle Ages, and, in the lower row, a morality tale warning of the emptiness of earthly wealth and position. The paintings on the north wall are more fragmentary, but you can identify St Michael weighing souls, and St Christopher carrying the Christ Child. Over the nave, there is a wagon roof dating from the 16th century. All the fittings are made of oak. There are several 13th and 14th century coffin lids set in the floor, probably of abbesses and nuns.