Church Of St Columba

Church of St Columba

Parish church dating from the 14th century, built on an earlier foundation. The building was substantially altered and extended in the 15th century, then underwent restoration in 1795 and further restoration in 1884 by J.D. Sedding. It is built of slatestone rubble with granite dressings, under slate roofs with crested ridge tiles. The gable ends feature raised coped verges to the east.

The plan consists of a nave and chancel in one. The aisles were constructed in the 14th century and were altered, possibly extended to the full length of the chancel, in the early 15th century. A south porch dates from the 15th century, as does the later west tower.

The exterior shows a nave enclosed by aisles. The chancel east end contains a 19th-century four-light Perpendicular window with hood mould and relieving arch. Both the north and south aisles extend eastward as chapels, each with a straight joint to the chancel and a matching four-light 19th-century Perpendicular window with hood mould and relieving arch. Both aisles are blind at the west end.

The north aisle features an early 15th-century four-light window with two tall lights and a lower light at each side, with four-centred arches and hood mould. To the right is a three-light 19th-century Perpendicular window, next to a 20th-century single-storey addition, with a two-light 19th-century Perpendicular window to the west of the addition.

The south aisle comprises four bays, including the south porch, with two bays of the south chapel to the east. The chapel features a four-centred arched moulded granite doorway with carved spandrels and a 19th-century door, and a three-light 19th-century Perpendicular window. The main range of the south aisle contains one 15th-century and two 19th-century three-light windows with cusped lights, two-centred arch and hood mould. A slate ledger stone is attached to the south wall, dating from the 17th century, carved with flowers and strapwork, with valedictory verses to Margaret dated 1658.

The gabled south porch has a four-centred arched doorway with wave moulding and 20th-century double doors. Above it is a fine slate sundial with gnomon, dated 1826 and erected by the churchwardens. The porch interior features a slate floor and stone benches, with a 19th-century arched brace roof. An inner moulded four-centred arched doorway with hood mould is fitted with a 19th-century studded door.

The west tower stands in four stages, built of squared granite rubble on a moulded plinth with string courses and set-back weathered buttresses. It has an embattled parapet with crocketed pinnacles. The west doorway features a rounded arch with wave mouldings and a plain round granite vault, with inner 19th-century double doors. Above is a three-light 19th-century window with four-centred arch and hood mould. Stair lancets are located to the north. The third stage to the south contains a clock dated 1910. The fourth stage has 15th-century three-light bell-openings with Perpendicular tracery and slate louvres, with four-centred arch and hood mould. The pinnacles are corbelled out with small carved figures at the level of the top string course.

The interior has a 19th-century tiled floor and unplastered walls. The nave and chancel are roofed with a 19th-century arched-brace roof. The aisles have 19th-century roofs except for the east chapels, which retain a 15th-century wagon roof with carved ribs, wall-plates and bosses, left unceiled.

The nave features a four-bay north and south arcade with two-centred arches with double chamfered orders. The piers have four large outer shafts and four smaller inner shafts with ring-moulded capitals. The piers at the west end and at the east end of the chancel are of Beer stone, whilst the other piers are granite. The chancel has a four-bay north and south arcade with depressed four-centred arches and similar piers.

The north aisle contains a four-centred arched doorway to the rood stair, with a stone newel stair and upper doorway. A corresponding doorway has been cut through the north and south arcades. The nave has a piscina in the south wall, with additional piscinas in the chancel and north chapel. A blocked window at the west end on the north side may predate the addition of the north aisle. The tower arch is four-centred with imposts and chamfered.

Among the church's fittings is a 12th-century stone font in the nave with a circular bowl carved with chevron work, four outer shafts surmounted by faces and a central stem. The Royal Arms of Charles II, in plaster with ancient colour, are mounted on a board with pediment, cherub and pinnacles in the north aisle. A 19th-century wooden chair with a carved floral panel and scrolled top is present, as are 17th-century stocks in the south aisle and 19th-century painted Gothic boards in the north and south aisles with texts. A 1610 copy of the Breeches Bible is housed in the north aisle.

Monuments in the north aisle include a slate monument with low relief carving of a woman with inscription around the border, dated 1640; a slate tablet to Richard Budd dated 1787; and a slate tablet with fine vigorous relief carving of a figure of a man, initialled RE, dating to circa 1640. The south aisle paving contains reused 19th-century headstones, and a slate monument to Henry Minnow dated 1697 with a central panel bearing verses and a border with floral carving.

One window contains stained glass by Gibbs and Howard, dating from 1885.