Architectural Features
the second bay from right has a blocked Norman door with segmental head and imposts remaining, two buttresses to the left, with gabled tops.
Pucklechurch church is dedicated to St Thomas à Becket. The church is Norman in origin and is grade I listed, see: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1212871
to the south, a tall, pointed-arched lancet, with restored mask stops to the hood mould, with relieving arch, a two-light window with a quatrefoil in upper section, a gabled buttress to the right with a gargoyle above, a carved man's head, and a cross finial.
The C13 chancel arch has jamb shafts with stiff-leaf capitals and a low stone choir screen of the C19, and a squint to the left.
FITTINGS: the fittings include a stone pulpit of 1846, by R C Carpenter.
Carpenter also designed the C19 font with a round, foliage-carved bowl set on shafts in the nave
the baluster font in the aisle probably dates from the C18.
The east window in aisle has glass by Clayton and Bell, 1886
MONUMENTS: these include an effigy of a lady in the aisle, dating from circa1325, with a later flat-topped Perpendicular canopy, above which rises a high ogee canopy with crockets and pinnacles, forming a rere-arch to north east window, and said to have been put up in 1888.
In the nave: a marble tablet with heraldry, putti and open segmental pediment, to John Dennis, 1687 and other members of the family
a Renaissance, black and white marble tablet with Latin inscription, to John Dennis, 1638, attributed to Thomas Burnham.
There are also various C17 and C18 ledger stones in both nave and aisle.
The settlement, once forming parts of the ancient Forest of Kingswood, may have been a royal burh in the later Saxon period.
The manor of Pucklechurch was formally granted to Glastonbury Abbey in AD950, and was subsequently transferred to Bath Abbey in the C13.
The parish church was founded in the Norman period, and was perhaps a royal foundation, but the current building dates largely from the C13
Part of the Church of England Diocese of Bristol, the church has Norman origins, dating largely from the 13th century. The tower is 14th century. There were two major restorations in the 19th century. The building was Grade I listed in August 1985.
a north aisle and south porch were built in the C14, together with parts of the tower.
A chantry, now the site of the Lady Chapel, was set up by William de Cheltenham in 1337.
There were further alterations in the C17, coinciding with the increased prosperity of the settlement after the Dissolution, and there were two major phases of work in the C19, the first, by Richard Cromwell Carpenter , in 1846-56, and the second, by John Dando Sedding , in 1889.
These included some reordering, and the replacement of some windows, the introduction of new fittings, and some stained glass.
SOURCES: Verey, D and Brooks, A: The Buildings of England, Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and the Forest of Dean , 642-3 REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The Anglican church of St Thomas à Becket, a Norman foundation with mainly C13, C14 and C19 fabric, is designated at Grade I, for the following principal reasons: * Historic interest: the church retains fabric from the Norman period, and dates largely from the C13, with additions in the C14, and is thus substantially a medieval building * Architectural interest: the C19 work to the church, carried out by R C Carpenter, and later by J D Sedding, is of good quality, reflecting the involvement of these experienced ecclesiastical architects * Fixtures and fittings: the C19 fittings are of good quality, and are by recognised designers * Monuments: the range and quality of monuments within the church, which date from the early C14 to the C19, and demonstrate a high level of quality in design and craftsmanship * Group value: with the nearby listed buildings, and the large group of 15 churchyard monuments which are each listed in their own right