Church of St Mary

Church of St Mary, West Torrington

Parish church, formally closed for worship in 2011. Built in 1860-61 by R. J. Withers, reusing 14th-century masonry. The building is constructed of ironstone, greenstone and limestone rubble with limestone ashlar dressings. Slate roofs feature decorative ridge tiles and stone coped gables. The plan comprises a west bellcote, nave with south porch, chancel with north vestry.

The west front has two four-stage buttresses with pronounced moulded plinths and curved set-offs. A central 19th-century window with pointed head contains two cusped ogee-headed lights with mouchettes and hood mould. A moulded string course runs above, with a pilaster rising from the centre of the window. The pilaster narrows as it rises to the centre of the bellcote. The bellcote reuses 14th-century masonry including fragments of the buttress of the old tower, featuring two pointed openings with chamfered surrounds and hood moulds, a quatrefoil above, and an ashlar-dressed gable with weather vane.

The north side of the nave has two rectangular windows, each containing three cusped ogee-headed lights and hood moulds, flanking a single three-stage buttress. The north vestry has a lean-to roof and a west doorway reusing 14th-century masonry with a Caernarvon head, chamfered surround, pointed 19th-century relieving arch and plank door. The east end of the vestry features a pointed window reusing mid-14th-century masonry with moulded surround, two cusped ogee-headed lights with reticulated tracery and hood mould, topped by a 19th-century relieving arch and moulded eaves.

The east end of the chancel has a large pointed window with 14th-century moulded surround, three 19th-century cusped ogee-headed lights with rich 19th-century tracery and hood mould. The south side of the chancel contains a single 19th-century window with flattened triangular head, two cusped ogee-headed lights, mouchette and hood mould. The lower parts of the south side of the nave are medieval, featuring a 19th-century three-stage buttress and two 19th-century rectangular windows with richly moulded surrounds and mullions, each with three cusped ogee-headed lights and hood mould.

The gabled south porch reuses 14th-century masonry with two-stage buttresses to east and west, each topped with upper gables. A pointed south doorway has head and jambs moulded in one with hood mould and lattice-work doors. Above stands a 14th-century niche with corbelled base and cusped, pointed head.

The porch interior contains wooden benches flanking a 19th-century interior doorway with richly moulded pointed head and jambs including filleted rolls, hood mould with king and bishop label stops, and plank doors. A 19th-century pointed, moulded chancel arch has hood mould and head label stops with polygonal responds featuring shaft rings. The north vestry doorway is 19th-century with cusped head, hood mould and head label stops, all painted ornately, with a plank door. A 19th-century aumbry to the right has a cusped, trefoiled head.

The chancel features a 19th-century reredos with coloured mosaic panels and running string course, and 19th-century sedilia with cusped head in the south wall. An early 12th-century font displays beaded intersecting arcade with scalloped capitals. A 20th-century pulpit reuses 18th-century turned columns with knops. A severely damaged fragment of robes from a tomb effigy remains in the vestry. 19th-century altar rail, pews and roofs complete the interior fittings.

Historical Context

Saint Gilbert, founder of the Gilbertine Order, served as vicar from 1123 to 1189. Thomas Wimberley Mossman was vicar from 1859 to 1885 and initiated the church's restoration. Mossman was an important and controversial figure in the Oxford Movement, a correspondent of Cardinal Newman, and founder of a Brotherhood aimed at financing young men from poor backgrounds through theological college training and into the priesthood. He was also a notable historian, active Liberal politician, and crucial figure in the early Ecumenical Movement.

The porch contains a First World War memorial consisting of a white marble tablet with black border. The inscription reads: "West Torrington. In ever grateful memory to the men of this village who fought in the great war 1914-19. Gave their lives. were wounded. returned safely. By Their Sacrifice We Live." This memorial is unusual in celebrating the safe return of parishioners, including a female nurse, alongside commemorating those who lost their lives.