Church of St George, Monkleigh, Devon

Description

MONKLEIGH
SS4520
17/140 Church of St. George
20.2.58
GV. I
Church. Early C15; late C15 south aisle; restored 1862-3.
Coursed slatestone rubble; restored in late C19 with squared and
coursed slatestone; stone-coped gabled stone slate roof. Plan of
chancel, nave with south aisle, south-east chapel and porch, and
west tower. East gable of chancel has trefoiled lancet set over
3-light Perpendicular window (rebuilt 1897) with panel tracery;
mid C19 vestry to north with pointed-arched doorway and
Tudor-style window; hood mould with rosette-carved stops over
4-light Perpendicular window with Y-tracery and some C19
restoration. 5-bay south aisle wall has similar hood moulds over
3 Perpendicular 3-light windows, with intersecting depressed
arches to south-east chapel, and plain hood moulds over 2
Perpendicular 3-light windows with reticulated tracery flanking
porch; C15 chamfered and pointed-arched priest's door to east.
C15 gabled south porch: C19 sundial above moulded granite
doorway; niche for statue above similar inner doorway which has
C19 door with C15 decoratively-carved lock. Mid/late C19
Perpendicular-style north window to north transept. Two-bay north
aisle of nave has hood moulds over 3-liht Perpendicular windows
with panel tracery, and quatrefoil to head of east window; these
windows flank blocked doorway. Three-stage west tower, with
offset setback corner buttresses and string courses; mid C19
Perpendicular-style 3-light windows over C15 doorway with
moulded-arched architrave and ancient studded plank door; label
moulds over second-stage trefoil-headed windows; hood moulds over
2-light trefoil-headed belfry windows with Y-tracery; canted
stair turret with round-arched lights to north; crenellated
parapet with weathered crocketed pinnacles. Interior: mid C19
tiled floor to sanctuary floor; C15-C17 Barnstaple tiles set in
chancel floor, and to nave and aisle. Mid C19 eight-bay
arch-braced roof in chancel and nave. Late C15 south arcade, of
granite, has moulded depressed arches set on quatrefoil-section
piers, and Perpendicular capitals with relief-carved lozenges to
abaci. South aisle has C15 waggon roof with moulded ribs,
floral-carved bosses and trailing vine-leaf decoration to arcade
plate. Fittings: mid C19 altar rail with reset C17 balusters.
Mid C19 choir stalls, Gothic-style traceried pulpit, eagle
lectern, traceried west screen and benches: late C15/early C16
carved bench ends at west end of nave have carvings of the
Passion symbols, arms of Annery families, tracery, and beasts.
The finest feature of this church is the early C16 parclose
screen in the south Annery chapel, "amongst the most remarkable
of the many Devon screens" (Pevsner): Perpendicular openwork
tracery in upper panels, with richly-carved leaf decoration,
(including Pelican and Tudor rose) in spandrels and to frieze
above); lower panels, with applied tracery, have ballflower
ornament to cinquefoiled heads; similar tracery to double doors;
panels are divided by cable-moulded pilasters with crocketed
finials. The carvings are remarkably similar to those at Weare
Giffard Hall (q.v.). Similar-style late C19 screen to north side
of south chapel. South door of chapel has late C15 architrave
with finely-carved foliate decoration. C15 carved bench ends in
chapel include some C15 trade emblems. Memorials: C17/18 ledger
stones set in floors. Chancel has stele-type wall tablet to
Augustus Saltren Willet, d. 1854; memorial to John Saltren, d.
1794, has stele-type tablet set on obelisk-shaped mount; female
in classical dress weeping over draped urn placed above. Late
C16 brass of kneeling man, set amongst twisted columns, heraldic
shields and other decorative plasterwork from a former monument,
is set above north chancel door. North transept has inscribed
slate plate to Jane Coffin, d. 1646, and her baby son: they are
depicted as a reclining mother holding her son; inscribed slate
plate set in shouldered marble architrave to Henry Hurdinge, d.
1627, shows Hurdinge, his 2 wives and children kneeling at
prayer. Also in north transept is monument with epitaph to
William Gaye, d. 1631; heraldic achievement with broken pediment;
black marble pilasters flank two demi-figures both with their
heads supported by their hands. Nave has stele-type wall tablet
to James Lewis, d. 1847. South east chapel, also known as Annery
Chapel, has late C19 and C20 wall tablets; C18 wall memorial has
slate inscription panel set in architectural frame with heraldic
shields. This chapel also has fine monument to Sir William
Hankford, Chief Justice of the King's bench, d. 1422: vine-leaf
frieze with angel holding shield is set above recess, which has
crocketed canopy to depressed pointed arch and quatrefoils to
intrados of arch; tomb chest with slate top and ogee-headed and
crocketed panels is placed within recess; two C15 brasses set
into slate ledger stones in front of tomb. Stained glass: fine
east window of the 1890s; C15 glass and C16 Flemish glass reset
at heads of south chapel windows; early C20 west window; 1863
south west window. Hoskins has suggested that the parclose
screen may date from 1537, when Dame Anne St. Ledger founded a
chantry in the Annery chapel.
(Buildings of England: North Devon, pp. 124-5, National Monuments
Record; Devon County Record office, Faculty Petitions, No. 2 for
Monkleigh Parish; W.G. Hoskins, Devon, 1954 (1972 edn), p. 439).

Listing NGR: SS4575820718

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Church of St George

A Grade I Listed Building in Monkleigh, Devon

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