St Winwaloe Church

St Winwaloe Church

Parish church at Poundstock, formerly known as the Church of St Neot. The transept may date from the 13th century or earlier, with a nave, north aisle, chancel, and west tower added in the late 15th or early 16th century. The church was substantially restored in 1896 by G H Fellowes Prynne.

The building is constructed of stone rubble with freestone and granite dressings, except for the west tower and west wall of the north aisle, which are built of freestone ashlar. The south transept represents the remains of a cruciform church from the 13th century or earlier. The north aisle was added in the late 15th or early 16th century, and the present Lady Chapel was probably constructed a little later when the chancel bays of the arcade were built. The church is largely Perpendicular in character.

The chancel is slightly lower than the nave and has moulded timber bargeboarding to its east gable. The gabled chancel features late 19th-century moulded granite coping and kneelers, and a three-light 19th-century Perpendicular east window with hoodmould and carved label stops. Below the east window is a small 19th-century panel carved with patee crosses. The south side of the church, to the left of the porch, has a square-headed 16th-century three-light window with cinquefoil-headed lights beneath a hoodmould, and a similar two-light window between the porch and transept. The transept has 19th-century moulded granite coping and kneelers to its south gable and a three-light arched Decorated window beneath a hoodmould, with some renewal of tracery. The east wall of the transept contains a square-headed three-light window with cinquefoil-headed lights beneath a hoodmould. The south wall of the chancel has a square-headed three-light granite window with cinquefoil-headed lights, the heads of which have been renewed. An arched, chamfered freestone priest's door on the south wall of the chancel has a 19th-century hoodmould with carved label stops.

The north aisle has five three-light square-headed 16th-century Perpendicular granite windows beneath hoodmoulds, and one large buttress of 17th or 18th-century date. A chamfered arched granite north door has carved spandrels and a square-headed hoodmould. Above the north door is a simple chamfered round-headed freestone niche. The wall of the north aisle is flush with the chancel, with a large buttress featuring set-offs between. The east window of the north aisle is a three-light pointed Perpendicular design with a hoodmould. The west end of the north aisle was probably rebuilt, with masonry similar to that of the tower. A three-light pointed Perpendicular west window to the north aisle has a hoodmould.

The three-stage freestone ashlar tower has granite quoins and decorative courses of granite masonry. Moulded granite strings mark the stages, with the string below the battlemented parapet featuring additional moulding. Octagonal tower pinnacles have heavily crocketed finials. An internal north-west stair turret has slits. The tower features a moulded arched granite west doorway with carved spandrels beneath a square-headed hoodmould, and a three-light renewed Perpendicular west window with a hoodmould. A trefoil-headed statue niche on the west wall at bell ringers stage is set beneath an ogee moulding with an engaged finial. The south side has a moulded rectangular opening at bell ringers stage. Two-light belfry openings have louvres below blind tracery. The porch has a late 19th-century boarded waggon roof with ribs and bosses, and late 19th-century granite benches. A moulded arched 16th-century granite inner doorway has pyramid stops, and the Polyphant hoodmould to the door may date from an earlier build. A holy water stoup is present. The door itself is a massive 16th-century nailed door with strap hinges.

Interior

The interior contains a six-bay Perpendicular granite north arcade, with two bays extending to the chancel. The nave piers have four hollows and four shafts with moulded bases and capitals. The chancel piers are octagonal monoliths with rustic octagonal capitals. Interior walls (except for the tower) were rendered in the later 19th century, leaving stone dressings to windows exposed. Roofs throughout are late 19th-century boarded waggons with ribs and bosses. A late 19th-century timber chancel arch has pierced tracery, with angels carved on the chancel wall plate. The chancel roof is corbelled out on the north side to accommodate a bulge in the north chancel arcade. A double-chamfered granite tower arch springs from moulded capitals on short engaged shafts. A double-chamfered arch leads into the transept.

A large rectangular 13th-century granite font has two orders of pointed blind arcading. The late 16th or early 17th-century drum pulpit is carved with panels of arabesques and flowers, with a moulded plinth and steps probably dating from the 19th century. A late 19th or early 20th-century roodscreen is present. The Lady Chapel screen dates from 1917 and was carved by Miss Rashleigh Pinwill of Plymouth. A Polyphant piscina in the chancel probably dates from the late 19th century. The choir stalls consist of two 16th-century carved benches and frontals, heavily repaired. Two prayer desks with benches in the chancel may be made up from 16th-century benches. The altar and reredos were designed by Fellowes Prynne.

The Lady Chapel has a late 19th-century dado containing some 17th-century carved panels. A cinquefoil-headed piscina with shelf for use as an aumbrey probably dates from the late 14th or early 15th century. The easternmost window of the north aisle contains a fragment of 15th-century glass showing the symbol of St Luke. A wall monument on the north wall of the Lady Chapel, dated 1638, has a moulded cornice and pediment flanked by obelisks, displaying the arms of the Penfound family.

The south transept east window contains a fragment of 15th-century glass showing canopy work. Two large 15th-century wall paintings on the north wall of the nave were uncovered during Prynne's restoration, illustrating the Tree of the Seven Deadly Sins and the Warning to Sabbath-breakers; the figures are largely obscured. Late 15th or early 16th-century paintings of saints on board, formerly part of the medieval roodscreen, are fixed to the north wall of the nave. A good early 16th-century chest from Parnham House, Beaminster, is in the nave, with carved panels of profile heads in medallions. A late 16th or early 17th-century communion table is in the nave.

Several fine slate memorials are fixed to the nave walls. A memorial to William and John Trebarfoote, buried in 1628 and 1630, is fixed to the west wall and features two round-headed arches on fluted columns carved in relief with angels' heads in the spandrels and arms of the Trebarfoote family in a shield on the central column. An inserted brass plate with verse and date of 1629 lies below, with a kneeling figure carved in relief before a prayer stool, and capital letters of the inscription cut in ornamental relief. A freestone slab incised with a foliated cross, probably 13th-century, is fixed to the north wall of the nave. A slate memorial to Elizabeth Pearse, buried in 1720, is fixed to the north wall with an inscription round the border and verse with incised angels heads. A slate memorial to John Harry, died 1669, is fixed to the north wall with a long verse. A slate memorial to Charles Manaton, carver and freeman of the City of London, buried 1732, is fixed to the south wall; the inscription is largely illegible but was recorded by Alice Bizley in The Slate Figures of Cornwall.

Historical context

Simon Morton, Vicar of Poundstock, was a leading figure in the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549 and was hanged in Stratton for treason. The present Lady Chapel was formerly the Penfound Chapel. The restoration by Fellowes Prynne cost £1,070. Prynne's report on the building before his restoration describes it in a state of neglect and decay.