Description

TEDBURN ST MARY CHURCH LANE (north side)
SX 89 SW

3/82 Church of St Mary
-

GV II*

Parish church. Parts of nave fabric and transept C13, north chancel chapel (now
organ chamber) circa late C13/early C14, north aisle circa late C14 in origin with
some later remodelling, west tower late C14/early C15, 1868 chancel by Edward
Ashworth. Volcanic trap; the chancel masonry snecked; tower ashlar; porch squared
and coursed; nave, transept and north aisle roughcast; freestone dressings; slate
roofs. West tower, nave, chancel, north aisle, south west porch, south transept.
The south transept probably dates from an Early English C13 cruciform church which
was probably extended by a north chancel chapel or chantry in late C13/early C14,
before the north aisle was added. Pevsner suggests that the unusual design of the
north aisle windows may be late C14. The arch between the chancel and the organ
chamber has clearly been remodelled several times. The north arcade has variations
which suggest that it has also been partly rebuilt. In 1868 the chancel and chancel
arch were completely rebuilt by Edward Ashworth of Exeter in a Decorated style.
Ashworth's wall decoration has been obliterated in the C20.
The 1868 chancel has a coped gable andkneiiiiikith a single angle buttresses with
set-offs and Geometric Decorated 3-light east window with a hoodmould and large
uncarved label paired stops. The south side has 2 chamfered lancets in square-headed
architraves, 1 similar window on south side. The south transept has a similar 1868
east window, a 2-light C19 south window with trefoil-headed lights and a square-
headed hood-mould with label stops. The west wall has a 1-light chamfered Early
English lancet. A false gable divides the nave from the chancel, the nave has one 2-
light square-headed chamfered window. The north aisle has a diagonal east buttress
and unusual windows which Pevsner suggests may be late C14. The east window consists
of paired 2-light arched cusped traceried windows in a square-headed architrave
divided by a single moulded mullion. There are 5 similar windows on the north side;
the west window of the aisle consists of 3 cusped lights below head tracery in a
square-headed architrave.
The grand 3-stage battlemented west tower has diagonal buttresses with set-offs, a
projecting south east battlemented polygonal stair turret with slightly oversailing
polygonal corner pinnacles with obelisk finials and a shallow-moulded granite west
doorway below a 3-light Perpendicular west window with renewed tracery and a hood-
mould. The string course rises as a hood-mould above cusped ogee arched statue niche
on the west face and a chamfered bellringers' opening on the south side. 2-light
traceried belfry openings on all 4 faces. The tall battlemented south west porch has
a chamfered rounded outer doorway. The interior has stone benches and a flat
plastered ceiling although corbels for vaulting ribs survive. The rounded chamfered
inner doorway has a hood-mould and a C19 text on tin.
Interior Plastered walls; tall chamfered volcanic tower arch, C19 chancel arch
springing from a corbel on the south wall and a pier and capital to the north which
abut a medieval pier. Steeply-pointed arch to transept, surviving corbel from former
arch between north aisle and north chancel chapel. The arcade is puzzling; the east
respond, west respond and westernmost arch are volcanic, the rest Beerstone, with
different mouldings to the piers and arches and rustic carved captials. The arch
between the chancel and north chancel chapel is a curious design, probably as a
consequence of adjusting the aisle and chancel chapel to the pier of the former north
transept. The easternmost respond is partly late C13/early C14 and a fragment of an
early arch with a shallow image niche survives abutting a volcanic double-chamfered
arch on the chancel side and a further granite chamfered arch. On the chancel chapel
side 2 granite chamfered arches abut the volcanic arch. A trefoil-headed piscina in
the south chancel chapel confirms an early date for the fabric. The nave and aisle
roofs are unceiled waggons with moulded ribs and bosses, all largely C19, parts of
the carved wall plate in the north aisle are medieval. The chancel roof is 1868;
collar rafter with struts, the transept roof has slender ribs ceiled with C20
sheeting. The chancel has an 1868 low stone screen with blind tracery divided by
shafts with carved capitals, iron railings above have been removed. The 4-sided
stone pulpit on a wineglass stem is attached to the screen; the pulpit is brattished
with trefoil-headed blind arches containing paintings of saints on tin. The chancel
has good 1868 tiling on the sanctuary step and a particularly fine 1868 altar rail
with painted iron foliage. Co-eval choir stalls have poppy-headed ends and open
tracery; a C19 parclose screen divides the chancel from the north chancel chapel.
Good set of 1868 brass fittings including a candelabra and processional cross. The
C19 stained glass in the chancel is a part of the architectural design with a good
east window by Drake of Exeter and quarries in the north and south windows. The
south transept has a circa late C13/early C14 ogee-headed Beerstone tomb recess with
rustic cutting. The nave and aisle have some medieval bench ends and benches, circa
early C16, carved with tracery and fleur de lis. Circa 1870s bench ends have various
tracery motifs. C19 octagonal font with carved panels on carved stem.
Memorials include a number of ledger stones used to pave the church and a
particularly fine brass wall monument commemorating the wife of Dr Edward Gee, rector
1596-1618. The long verse in both Latin and English is unusually sophisticated:
"Yett shall thy features 0 my Jane out of my heart then slyde/when beasts from field
and fishes all out of the seas shall glyde/". A large Gothic wall monument on the
south wall of the nave commemorates members of the Langdon family, recording names
from 1821-1898.
A medieval church with an intriguing building history, some unconventional medieval
tracery for the county and an 1868 chancel with good co-eval fittings.

Listing NGR: SX8062594468

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17535546

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas