St Mary the Virgin

Image taken through an internal window and some history below:

Axminster is at the crossing of two ancient roads, adopted by Romans as the Fosse Way to Aquae Sulis (the modern Bath in Somerset ) and Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) now the County Town of Devonshire.

Records show Saxon Christianity rooted here in the eighth century (786 AD) focused on a "Minster"- a monastic community. It is uncertain where the original Church was located - there are however stories of Saxon Princes, squabbles, battles and burials, and on this site an ancient burial uncovered in the nineteenth century revealed a person of substance and high standing. Athelstan, Alfred's grandson, who reigned over the house of Wessex 924-939 founded a college of priests here. With the coming of the Normans in 1066, the eleventh and twelfth centuries brought an infusion of fresh ideas, new ways, and adventurous architecture, the old structures were overlaid. The Saxon Church however had held fast to the Christian faith in difficult and often brutal times, nurturing sound learning, music