St John the Baptist Church and Well, Frome

The water-themed Aquae Sulis Way runs for 23 miles from Frome to Bath Abbey, complemented by the Glastonbury Water Way and St Aldhelm’s Way

‍Highlights

• St Aldhelm’s church
• Saxon cross fragments
• Victorian well chapel

What lies hidden inside Frome’s elaborate well chapel? This long stone structure stretches elegantly downhill from the town church. Alongside is a processional stairway, taking worshippers past images of the Crucifixion carved into the chapel’s façade.

In reality, the chapel and fountain are a decorative rather than historical feature, having been built in 1860 as an Anglo-Catholic statement. The chapel is kept locked, its holy water emerging by the side of the road in a public drinking fountain and basin.

The church conducts a well-dressing ceremony here on the Saturday nearest St Aldhelm’s Day (25 May), honoring the saint who founded the church in the 7th century. The original holy well arises on the other side of the churchyard but has been diverted underground into the Victorian well chapel.

The carvings on the front of the chapel are known as a Via Crucis, or way of the cross. Unlike the 12 Stations of the Cross, the Via Crucis has five scenes, all based on incidents mentioned in the Bible.

Though its well chapel and ceremonial stairway are a relatively recent innovation, the church has more than enough history to merit a visit. I bumped into the vicar during my visit and he took time out of a busy day to show me some of the church’s highlights. His enthusiasm for its history was undimmed, despite having recently raised and spent an eye-watering £160,000 on roofing work.

St Aldhelm built the first church here in 685 when Frome was just a clearing in a forest. A charming tale is told of how he tamed the forest dwellers with his melodious singing. One day while traveling through the Forest of Selwood, he stopped and contemplated building a church here. While resting, he played on his lute and the robbers of the forest gathered to hear his songs, after which he preached and converted them to Christianity. As ever, the more colorful the stories about our ancestors, the harder it is to track down the historical source.

Most of the church dates from the 12th and 15th centuries but contains a few Saxon fragments displayed at the east end of the south aisle. A notice alongside suggests they might be the remains of a cross that marked the resting place of St Aldhelm’s coffin. The saint died at Doulting in 709 (see previous page) and was carried in a funeral procession to Malmesbury.

The church also houses the tomb of Bishop Thomas Ken, the ‘father of hymnology,’ who died in 1711. The tomb is a curious structure, a sort of half-buried crypt that pokes out of the east end of the church, only visible from the graveyard. A side chapel inside the church is dedicated to him, with an early Victorian stained-glass window depicting him surrounded by scenes from Jesus’ life, and a stone carving of the bishop’s personal prayer was installed in 2019. His nickname refers to the fact that he encouraged the use of hymns in Anglican worship and composed several himself. He is remembered by a lesser festival in the Anglican calendar on 8 June.

Directions‍

St John the Baptist Church, Bath Street, Frome BA11 1PL‍

www.sjfrome.co.uk‍

W3W: forms.pumps.votes

GPS: 51.2300N 2.3210W‍

The church is behind an elaborate set of gates, on the left-hand side as you head uphill along Bath Street from the center of town. To find the well chapel and Via Crucis steps, turn right as you leave the church building and they are easy to spot in the churchyard, leading down to Church Street.