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The Anglican Church of St Catherine at Montacute within the English county of Somerset was first built in the 12th century. It is a Grade II * listed building. Montacute has had religious significance since the discover of a stone crucifix in 1035. St Catherine's was built in association with the Cluniac Montacute Priory becoming the parish church after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Much of the fabric of the current church is from its extension in the 13th century and the tower is from the 15th. It was restored in the Victorian period. The church has tombs and memorials to the Phelips family, of Montacute House. ==History== It is not known when the first church was built on the site, however it was before 1035 when a black crucifix or Holy Rood was discovered within the grounds of the manor owned by Tofig. He loaded the life-sized cross onto a cart, and he then named a series of possible destinations owned by him.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Castle Montacute )〕 The oxen pulling the wagon (six red and six white in one version of the tale) refused to move until he said Waltham in Essex, where Tofig already had a hunting lodge. They then started, and continued non-stop until they reached Waltham, and where they stopped Tofig decided to build an abbey at the site – this became Waltham Abbey. In the mean time, Tofig rebuilt the church at Waltham to house the cross, on which he bestowed his own sword, and his second wife Gytha (or Glitha), the daughter of Osgod Clapa, adorned the figure with a crown, bands of gold and precious stones. The cross became the object of pilgrimage, notably by Harold Godwinson. It was at Tofig's wedding at Lambeth on 8 June 1042 that King Harthacnut suddenly died of a convulsion "while standing at his drink". "Holy Cross" became the battle-cry of Harold's armies at the battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings. The Holy Rood is said to have foretold Harold's defeat at Hastings: on the way there from the Battle of Stamford Bridge he stopped off at Waltham Abbey to pray, and the legend is that the cross "bowed down" off the wall as he did so, taken as a portent of doom.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.red1st.com/axholme/getperson.php?personID=I1748697551&tree=Axholme )〕 Around 1100 a church dedicated to St Peter had been built in association with Montacute Priory, by 1200 a chapel dedicated to St Catherine had been added next to the monks burial ground. Montacute Priory was a Cluniac priory of the Benedictine order. It was founded between 1078〔 and 1102 by William, Count of Mortain, in face of a threat that if he did not do so, the King would take the land from him. It was the only Somerset dependency of Cluny Abbey until 1407, when it gained independence from France. It was dissolved in 1539,〔 though there was a short restoration under the Catholic Queen Mary. At its height in 1262 there were 25 monks. In 1539 there were a Prior and 16 monks. There are extensive earthworks to the south of St Catherine's Church which may be the claustral range, and a fishpond. In the 1830s conflict between the vicar, Reverend Albion Cox, and the church bell ringers about the ringing of the bells for a local secular feast day lead to rioting and arrests.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.banksiacottagemontacute.com/about/riots-in-montacute/ )〕 The vicar of Montacute between 1885 and 1918 was the Reverend Charles Francis Powys (1843–1923), father of the writers John Cowper Powys, Llewelyn Powys and Theodore Francis Powys.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Powys Family )〕 Philippa Powys, their sister, and another author, was born in Montacute.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Church of St Catherine, Montacute」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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