St Mary's Anglican Church, Orchardleigh

This week we look at perhaps one of the widest known of the churches in our area, because of its popularity as a wedding venue ! According to the CofE its the most popular church in the country for weddings, seeing over 100 during an average year. Set as it is on the Orchardleigh Estate, now one of the countries top wedding venues it comes with the "fairytale" setting of being on a lake edge with a moat around it. It also has the romance of no electricity and therefore needs candlelight, even the organ needs to be pumped by hand.

Built in the 13th Century and extensively renovated in 1878 ( by Sir Gilbert Scott, a name which we will hear of a lot concerning the late 19th Century changes to many of our churches )The church is reached by footbridge and has seating for 120 people. There is a small bell tower on the roof and an external porch. Inside there are some beautiful stained glass windows. Its clear to see why couples would choose it as a wedding venue, even without the house next door for a reception.

Address : Orchardleigh, Frome, Somerset, BA11 2PH

Outside photo by Tom Oates and reproduced under Creative Commons Licence.