Description

ALWINGTON SS42SW 6/37 Church of St. Andrew (20.2.58) GV. I Anglican parish church. C15; south aisle rebuilt in C17; some restoration in 1883. Granite ashlar; coursed slatestone rubble to north walls; late C19 gabled and stone-coped slate roof with C15 head carvings to kneelers of chancel and south aisle. Plan of chancel with north vestry, nave with north transept; continuous south aisle with south porch; west tower. Chancel has hoodmould with head stops over 3-light Perpendicular east window with cinquefoiled heads and panel tracery; late C15 two-light square headed window to south; vestry to north has C15 iron grille set in square window with chamfered head and jamb, above label mould over C15 two-light square-headed window with cinquefoiled heads; label mould over C15 three-light cinquefoil-headed window in north chancel. South aisle: hood moulds with square stops over Perpendicular-style three-light windows with panel tracery in east and west gables; 4-bay south wall has label moulds over C17 three-light mullioned windows; C17 panelled and studded door with chamfered wood architrave with similar crosses carved in spandrels. South porch: hood mould over C15 basket-arched moulded doorway; similar architrave surrounds mid. C19 panelled door with C15 traceried head, C15 sanctuary knocker, C17 clasping ring on heart-shaped back plate and heart-shaped lock surround, and C15 barrel lock and framing to rear left. North transept has blocked window to east, and hood mould over C15 three-light Perpendicular window with panel tracery; north window had mullions and jambs replaced in 1862. North wall of nave has two C15 three-light square-headed windows with cinquefoiled heads and C19 sills. Fine 3-stage tower has offset and full-height setback corner buttresses, and string courses: hood mould over 3-light Perpendicular window with panel tracery above hood mould over moulded basket-arched doorway; slit lights to north-east stair turret; hood moulds over cinquefoiled second-stage lights with stone louvres; to belfry are hood moulds over 2-light Y-tracery windows with trefoiled heads; crouching gargoyles at corners of crenellated parapet, which has crocketed finials to pinnacles. Interior: plaster scraped off walls in 1883. Reredos of c. 1805 has painted panels of SS. Peter and Andrew and much reused C16 and C17 carved panelling, said to have been brought from Parkham Church (q.v). Late C15 waggon roofs to nave and chancel, with moulded ribs and foliate-carved bosses. 5-bay C15 nave arcade has depressed arches set on the usual quatrefoil piers of monolithic granite with stepped cornices. North transept has late C18 crocketed hood mould with head stops above north window and C15 square relief showing mermaid. Fittings: Gothic-style altar rail of c. 1790; choir stalls and reading desk installed 1904-5; eagle lectern installed 1903. C16 benches (a rare survival) with carved tracery etc and one dated 1580; two bench fronts are carved with late C16 arabesques. The local wood-carver Reuben Arnold made, between 1906 and 1927, the lectern, tower screen, choir stalls, and pews carved with Old and New Testament Scenes. C19 bier in north transept. Font has C15 octagonal top set on C13 stem. South aisle has two rows of late C18 box pews next to the pulpit, made in 1792 from reused C16 carved bench ends; slim Perpendicular-style columns support the sounding board which has carved sides and crocketed pinnacles. King's Arms placed in 1814 on west wall of south aisle. C19 Pine-Coffin family pew at east end of south aisle is made from Jacobean balusters, cartouche panels, caryatids, strapwork tops and other wood carvings brought from Portledge Hall (q.v.). Monuments: Chancel has lozenge-shaped tablet to George Blake, d. 1763, C19 marble tablets and late C19/early C20 brasses to Pine-Coffin family (of Portledge House). North transept has obelisk-shaped monument to Charlotte Morrison, d. 1791, her daughter and husband; monument to Rev. Thomas Hooper Morrison, d. 1824, has rectangular mon-axial tablet with palm fronds and heraldic shield flanked by scrolled brackets with carved festoons; plain tablets to Eleanor Morrison, d. 1841, and Dora Hammett, d. 1885. South aisle has memorial to John Meddon, d. 1775, with draped urn and inscription panels set on oval mount; monument to Richard Coffin, d. 1617, and his wife, d. 1651, was erected by their sole surviving son, James, in 1651: it has an heraldic achievement set in a broken segmental pediment above two coloured demi-figures in relief and holding hands, above 15 children and slate inscription. C17-18 ledger stones and Barnstaple tiles on aisle floors. Stained glass: east window dated 1863; north transept window dated 1861; north chancel window dated 1868; fine Resurrection window dated 1871 to west window. South aisle has fragments of C16 armorial glass in heads of east window, and old leaded cames with diamond-shaped leaded lights to central windows. (Buildings of England: North Devon, p. 39; National Monuments Record; full description of monuments in Richard Polwhele, The History of Devonshire, 1806, Vol. 3, pp. 421-3).

Listing NGR: SS4047123159

External Links

• Wikidata Q17527471

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