A report on the state of knowledge about the Charnel House, Crypt and Nave Burials in St Mary’s Church Bridgwater for Mark Richmond and the Reordering Committee by Tony Woolrich, 10 June 2011.
This report summarises the published information about the charnel house and crypt, Bridgwater ‘s grave yards, the heating system, nave burials, the construction of the pew bases and suggestions for further investigation. It is illustrated by a plan and photographs.
The charnel house is under the north transept, at the eastern end, and now houses the heating boiler and oil tank. The crypt’s extent is not now known, for an entrance from the charnel house was blocked off many years ago. Steps to it were reputed to lie in the vicinity of one of the niches in the north aisle. Part of the crypt is reputed to lie under the western end of the north transept. The crypt was reputed to have been stopped being used for its proper purpose and have been filled with concrete early in the 19th century. Whether this formed part of Brakspeare’s work is not known, but he did remove the wall dividing into two the transept which contained the famous squint, substituting a pair of pillars. Before this was done the floor between the porch and the squint was rubble stone.