Following an initial talk by Julian Elliot on Sites of Religious Significance our 'walk' took place on 10 June 2026.
We visited four churches in the Mendip Hills Area of Somerset each famed for a particular architectural feature. We started with St Aldhelm in Doulting, which is known for its highly unusual octagonal central tower capped with a full stone spire. The church is constructed out of local Doulting oolitic limestone quarried in the parish.
Moving on, we went next to St Bartholomew in Cranmore famed for its three stage western perpendicular tower built in the reign of Henry VII. It features deep corner pinnacles, distinct gargoyles, compressed stone tracery windows designed to let bell music filter out and a beautiful stone fan vault built into the ceiling directly underneath the interior of the tower.
Whilst in Cranmore, we stopped for lunch at the Whistle Stop cafe at East Somerset Railway where we were side-tracked somewhat, taking photographs of steam trains!
After lunch we moved onto St Mary the Virgin church at Croscombe, described by several of the photographers as 'the jewel in the crown'. It is famous for its incredibly rare, fully intact 1636 Jacobean interior. The church is packed with heavily carved 17th century dark oak including a massive rood screen, a grand pulpit and an extraordinarily detailed plaster nave ceiling.
Finally, for those with enough stamina, there was a visit to St Peter and St Paul church in Shepton Mallet, famed for its 350 panel Oak Wagon Roof, individually carved with no two panels identical.
This zine includes the work of eight photographers - David Gurney, Donald Branch, Lachlan Fraser, Roger Harvey, Barbara Voules, Jenny Short, Victoria Taylor and me, Denise Bailey.
I have attended a number of these TWT events and it never fails to amaze me that a group of photographers can go out together and produce totally different images. There is almost never a duplicate image submitted.
The follow-up meeting took place on 17 July by zoom.
A secret ballot was held in order to select the two images chosen by the group to represent the walk in the TWT online gallery, which can be found at: https://talkwalktalk.org/index.php/topic-gallery/693.
Front cover: St Mary the Virgin, Croscombe by Denise Bailey LRPS.
Some of the group resting in Croscombe Church
St Aldhelm, Doulting
Barbara Voules LRPS
British parish churches have been a mark on the countryside for centuries, each with its own story to tell, not only of worship, but also historic events, craftmanship, patronage and the passage of daily life and the local people. The variety of Mendip churches is testament to this sentiment.
Lachlan Fraser LRPS
St
Aldhelm, Doulting
Taken in January when we did the initial recce and H&S assessment
With thanks to the Digital Imaging, Landscape and Creative Eye Groups of the Royal Photographic Society for the Talk-Walk-Talk initiatives, which have created a wonderful opportunity for photographers to meet and practice their hobby together.
Back cover:
St Aldhelms Well - the resting place of a saint's body in medieval times created a holy place that became a site of pilgrimage and healing.
Lachlan Fraser LRPS
