Exploring Axbridge : Page 4
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Ongoing excavation of the monuments by NADFAS have minutely documented all the hidden and exposed delights of this ancient church, their report is available on request at the church. And the Friends of Axbridge Church have raised thousands of pounds to help restore many of the crumbling monuments. Monuments such as the beautiful font: During the Reformation when such decoration was actively discouraged and windows and statuary were defaced and destroyed, the font was hastily covered up with plaster. The townspeople must have forgotten they had done so, for it was only in recent times that a piece of plaster fell off, possibly picked off in an idle moment by a verger, revealing an exquisitely carved face. It was then hastily restored to back its former state. The church has very active Mothers' Union Services are shared with the parish church in Shipham and Rowberrow every other Sunday (for details see the entry for St. John the Baptist Church in the Clubs & Organisations section of the Residents' pages). |
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Above the church is the old railway station building, currently used as a youth club.
The railway, which was part of the Strawberry Line, took the market garden produce of the southern slopes of the Mendips to the great urban centres. All that gradually declined when Dr Beeching closed this line in 1962. The road was built as a by-pass and opened in 1967. Much of the old railway line that remains is now a cycle path that eventually will run from Wells to Yatton. And the A371 that by-passes the town follows the line of part of the Strawberry Line.
Following the path by the church (Back Lane - which is actually a dedicated highway) along the back of the medieval walled gardens of the houses, some of which still have old orchards, will bring you down into the High Street through Horn's Lane.
