Church Of St Ladoca

Church of St Ladoca

Parish church dating primarily to the 15th century, though consecrated in 1268. The building was restored by G E Street for Canon Wise in 1864. Construction is in shale rubble with granite quoins and dressings; the tower is finished in granite ashlar. The roofs are slated.

The church comprises a nave, chancel, west tower, north transepts, south aisle and south porch. The nave has two 19th-century buttresses and one 15th-century Perpendicular granite window, similar in style to all other 15th-century windows in the building. The transept to the nave is 15th-century with a 15th-century window in its gable. A pointed arched door on the west side dates to the 19th century. The transept to the chancel has a mullioned bay attached to its gable with battlements above. A reused 15th-century window is in the east wall. The chancel window in freestone dates to 1864 and has cinquefoil detail over the centre. The east window of the south aisle has reticulated cusped tracery dating to 1869. The south wall has four bays in a 1:1:4 arrangement. Windows throughout are 15th-century, with a slightly taller example to the left of the porch. The porch has a gabled roof and a four-centred arched granite door frame. The west window dates to 1896 and features cusped freestone tracery. The roofs are finished with granite coped gables.

The tower is constructed in granite ashlar in three stages with offset buttresses. Angel corbels support buttresses over the nave. The bell storey has Perpendicular louvred openings with a battlemented parapet above, and battlemented and crocketed corner pinnacles surmounted by crosses. The tower's semi-circular headed moulded granite door frame suggests Renaissance influence and is likely later than the main fabric.

Internally, the nave has a standard granite arcade of diagonally set piers with torus, fillet and cavetto mouldings. Two bays open into the north transept and four bays run to the south aisle, continuing for two more bays between the chancel and chapel. The unceiled 15th-century wagon roof has carved principal ribs and under purlins. The north transept has a 19th-century roof. The chancel window's central light is by Burne-Jones with flanking lights by William Morris. The pitch pine king post roof has cusped arched braces and wind braces. A granite arch to the north transept containing the organ and a freestone barrel vaulted roof above it, along with a vestry beyond, all date to 1908. The east window of the south aisle contains William Morris glass; the west window, which is later, appears to be Pre-Raphaelite work. An unceiled 15th-century wagon roof with carved principal ribs, wall plates and under purlins survives over this aisle, as does a similar roof in the porch. The tower ceiling is divided into four panels by chamfered oak beams with masons' mitres at the intersection. The panels have chamfered joists running in alternate directions. A stair is located in the north-west corner.

Fittings include high altar frontal panels by E A E Prynne dating to 1897, an alabaster reredos, 16th-century carved oak panels in the rood screen, a circular 19th-century pitch pine pulpit with cusped arcading on turned shafts, and choir stalls of similar design. The circular font is probably late Norman and constructed of Catecleuse stone. It has a scalloped square base with a plain turned shaft supporting a bowl with cable moulding at the bottom and palmettes in round panels surmounted by a border with crosses.

Wall monuments include a slate memorial to William Randall dating to 1657 and John Randell from 1665. In the porch above the inner door is a freestone head, possibly Norman. To the right of the door is a granite piscina or font, and village stocks for two people. An east wall slate grave slab bears carved imagery of a skeleton, skull and crossed bones with an hourglass, commemorating Nicholas Cornelius from 1632. A dated stone in the south wall at the west end reads "PB II CW 1783" (possibly referring to a church warden).