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There is a peal of six bells, three of which are medieval. In 1970 the ancient tower was repaired and a new buttress built. Funds for the past and future church maintenance have been and still are raised by local efforts and the generous donations of visitors.

Standing forlorn, with only a farm for company, St Michael's is a precious little building. Although restored in 1877 and built of a patchwork of greenstone and brick, the church is essentially Norman.

Bowness parish church, dedicated to St Michael, has a long and interesting history. The first Rector recorded was in 1265, though it is thought there must have been a church on the present site for around 900 years, as the font dates back to Norman times. Sited in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, adjacent to the hidden gem of the Solway Firth, St Michael's Church offers the visitor a peaceful space for reflection, together with many points of historical interest.

Rebuilt on the site of the medieval church, which was destroyed by a bomb on the night of 8th/9th May 1941, St Michael's is built of concrete with Ancaster stone facings outside. The tall windows allow the building to be filled with light. Unusually, there is no east window.

On the 15th century tower is a unique, one handed clock, painted direct onto the stonework. It is 16.5 feet in diameter and the hand is 9 feet long. There is a chapel dedicated to the memory of airmen who lost their lives on operations from nearby RAF Coningsby.

An ancient church building with its roots in the 11th Century, years of fascinating history and now a vibrant cafe and community centre with a contemporary feel. How did all that happen?

It is thought that a wooden church may have existed in Aldbourne as early as the 7th or 8th century and the Domesday Book (1086) records that the church held two hides of land, sufficient for two plough teams, to provide for the church and priest.

The church is attached to the seat of the Dukes of Beaufort, Badminton House and was built in 1785 by Charles Evans, in the style of St Martin in the Fields in miniature, but with a plain west tower.

Great Torrington has a fascinating and colourful history. A priest, Humphrey, was instituted here in 1259, but the oldest parts of the building are 14th century. Leyland (1538) says ‘Torington is a great large toune and stondith on the brow of an hille and hath 3 fair streates yn it and a market everywke, and ons a yere apon St Michal's day the best fayr.'

Known as the 'cathedral of the back streets', the church is famous for its magnificent stained glass windows; by William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, Ford Madox-Brown, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Philip Webb, Kempe & Tower. Simon Jenkins, ‘England's Thousand Best Churches' places it within the foremost one hundred.