Description

SX 99 NW REWE REWE

4/176 The Parish Church of St Mary
-
30.6.61
GV I

Parish church. Mainly C15 but of 2 builds: nave and north aisle of circa 1450; north
transept (formerly the Wadham chantry) and chancel of 1495, built by Sir Nicholas
Wadham (Sheriff of Devon, 1502). Tower substantially rebuilt 1810. Nave south wall,
south porch and much of the chancel rebuilt (probably re-using medieval materials)
1867-8, by Edward Ashworth. Course volcanic trap rubble, with C19 crested slate roof.
West tower, nave, north aisle, south porch, north transept and chancel.
Exterior: West tower of 2 stages above moulded plinth with battlementing above moulded
string and no buttresses; south stair turret with 4 narrow lights, its pyramidal cap
at string-course level; west door under 3-light Perpendicular west window; trefoil-
headed lancet to south lighting ringing chamber; 2-light cusped square-headed belfry
openings. South side: porch 2-centred doorway with diagonal corner buttresses and
apex cross, 3-light Perpendicular style window and castellated stair turret (to light
pulpit) all by Ashworth. Chancel with one square-headed 2-light window of circa 1495
to north and south; 3-light east window, Decorated, C19. North Aisle, two 3-light
windows to north side, 1 to west end, Perpendicular of circa 1450, buttresses between,
2 off-sets, that to the north-west angle set diagonally. North transept:
Castellated. North window re-used in 1495 from north aisle, and identical to the
aisle windows; west door, with 3-light square-headed window to both east and west.
North aisle east window, 3-lights, C19.
Interior: 3-bay mid-C15 arcade, wavy moulding, 4 shield.-bearing angels and foliage to
capitals; west capital with a figure grasping fronds. Moulded boss to pier shafts.
Roofs, wagon, largely C19 but with some medieval bases, and shield-bearing angel
corbels in chancel. No chancel arch; ends of chancel walls visible from nave. Tower
arch with simple moulded capitals. Cinquefoil-headed piscina, double sedilia, each
bay under similar cusping to south chancel wall; aumbry to north, trefoil-headed, the
aumbry and sedilia with fluted base-stops. Probably 1495, but possibly recut.
Medieval woodwork: Screen of 5 bays, conventional Perpendicular tracery, but with much
cusping and, in the upper lights, little shields a bouche, with lance notches.
Although more typically a late-C14 feature, the screen is probably mid to late C15.
No coving remains; cresting and cornice C19. Back of screen plain, except for hood
moulds. Wainscotting, panels with varied tracery. The screen looks largely original,
although now thickly painted over. Bench ends. A good set of 32, circa 1500. Some
heraldic panels (one recording marriage alliance between Wadham and Seymour) but
mainly tracery panels, with roundels, and some knot motifs. Font: C15 octagonal,
stone, quatrefoil to each bowl panel, plain stem. Stone polygonal pulpit, 1867-8,
traceried panels heavily painted, on stem with foliage knot; access by rear stairs
occupying vaulted turret. Almsbox, panelled, on fluted column with pronounced
entasis, wooden and dated 1631.
Monuments: North transept. East wall : mural monument to Paul Draper of Exeter,
d.1689; Corinthian columns with broken pediment and armorial devices. Sanctuary,
north, mural monument to Frances Tripp with epitaph poem by her husband.
Glass: North aisle, north west window by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, 1900.
References: John Stabb, Some Old Devon Churches, II, pp.141-2, plate 130; Pevsner,
South Devon, p.251..
Cresswell, Deanery of Aylesbeare; Devon C19 Churches Project.

Listing NGR: SX9457199220

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17524609

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

• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)