Description

BUCKFASTLEIGH

SX7466 CHURCH HILL 1011-1/7/1 (North side) 10/01/51 Parish Church of Holy Trinity

GV II*

Parish church. Spectacularly sited on a high hill and some distance from the town below. C13 tower; chancel and transepts possibly also C13 in origin; C15 aisles and chancel chapels. Thorough restoration of 1844-45 to the designs of John Hayward of Exeter included new roofs and the upper part of the spire; severely damaged by fire on 20th of July, 1992. Smooth cement-rendered (probably C19), the tower with earlier roughcast (spire also roughcast); granite dressings; purple natural slate C19 roofs with crested ridge tiles (except chancel); cast-iron rainwater goods with Art Nouveau designs on the hoppers. Plan: nave; chancel; W tower; N and S chancel chapels; N and S transepts, N used as organ chamber; 4-bay lean-to aisles; S porch; vestry to centre N. EXTERIOR: C19 in texture and detail; most of the window mullions appear to have been renewed, several are variants on the uncusped design with round-headed sub-arches, possibly early C18 in date (cf Kelly parish church). The chancel, lower roof than the nave, has a coped gable with a big C19 foliated cross; 3-light Early English style E window with pointed uncusped sub-arches; 2 small chamfered lancets to N & S sides. S side has a probably C13 Early English hollow-chamfered doorway predating the chancel chapel with a probably C16 plank and studded door with a central cover strap over the hinges. 3 windows in the nave gable; 3-light in the centre with uncusped sub-arches, flanked by roundels. S chancel chapel has set-back buttresses with granite set-offs and an embattled parapet; E and S 3-light Perpendicular style traceried windows. N chancel chapel with plain parapet rising as gable to the east. E & N windows similar to S chapel but N window with crude replaced mullions; octagonal C15 rood loft stair turret abuts N chancel chapel on N side. S transept has E and S 3-light windows with round-headed uncusped lights. N transept has a square-headed 2-light E window, probably C16 in origin with cusped lights. High-set Georgian 2-light arched timber N window with intersecting glazing bars, probably to light a former gallery. N aisle has 2 unusual 4-light windows with depressed 4-centred arched heads, uncusped round-headed lights and a small round-headed light in the apex. N vestry has 3-light E window with round-headed uncusped lights. S aisle has two 3-light square-headed uncusped lights. S aisle has two 3-light square-headed windows (heads renewed) with round-headed lights and rustic carving in the spandrels; W window of 3 plain round-headed lights. 3-stage W tower with no string-courses or pinnacles. Shallow set-back buttresses and a plain corbelled parapet give an effect of vertical panels to each face. 5-sided N stair turret with an embattled parapet and slit windows. W face has a hollow-chamfered arched doorway with a C19 or C20 W door; 3-light Early English style W window with uncusped sub-arches. 2-light square=headed belfry windows to W and S faces with trefoil-headed lights; long slit window to S face. Somewhat irregular spire dating from Hayward's restoration. S porch has plain arched outer doorway with c1840s 2-leaf door with flush panels below the middle rail and slats above. Inside, the porch has a 2-bay 1844 roof matching the nave and chancel, stone benches and a double-chamfered medieval inner doorway with ribbed stops. 2-leaf late C18/early C19 panelled inner door. INTERIOR: plastered walls. Arcades with octagonal piers with double hollow-chamfered arches and capitals; similar arches into chancel chapels from the aisles and chancel. 2 of the N aisle piers are monoliths and may be C19. Very tall, narrow plain tower arch. Wide, double hollow-chamfered chancel arch on moulded granite corbels which do not match one another. Roofs of the 1840s by Hayward: 8-bay arch-braced nave roof with a ridgeboard and 2 tiers of windbraces; similar 2-bay transept roofs; unceiled lean-to aisle roofs might post-date Hayward's work. Blocked C15 doorway to rood loft stair. Plain arched sedilia; aumbry and piscina in the chancel, probably to Hayward's designs. Fittings: fine Norman font re-sited in the S transept with a carved freestone bowl with some remains of colouring on its original cylindrical stem with 4 added shafts. Probably late C18 domed font cover. Late C19 timber drum pulpit with blind tracery decoration. Fine set of box pews, mostly of 1844 with blind traceried doors, one painted with 'reserved for ringers'. The W end pews are probably earlier with panelled doors and are banked up to the W end. Chancel with C19 brass communion rail with foliage decoration and C20 choir stalls. Memorials: two C17 slate slabs set into the floor, one in the chancel and one in the S transept. Stained glass: an interesting set, mostly by Beer of Exeter, the E window of the S chancel chapel probably by Beer and Driffield. Unfortunately the backgrounds of several of the windows have been removed, leaving the figures isolated. S window of the S transept by Powell & Son, designed HE Wooldridge (Pevsner). An early medieval church. The 1844-45 restoration and the Beer stained glass represent an unusual combination of local architect and craftsman. The undated and unsigned architect's drawing in the porch shows the proposal to re-site the font in the S transept. Historical note: John Hayward of Exeter was the leading local Gothic Revival church architect in the Exeter diocese in the 1840s and 1850s. (Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-: 226).

Listing NGR: SX7424166572

External Links

• Wikidata Q17535477

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Recommended Books

• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
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  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings