Church Of St Clement

A parish church with origins in the 13th century, substantially rebuilt and extended during the 14th and 15th centuries, and comprehensively restored in the 19th century. The building is constructed of slatestone and granite rubble with granite dressings, with the south aisle, porch and west tower built in granite ashlar. The roof is slate with crested ridge tiles and raised coped verges to the gable ends.

The church's plan comprises a nave and chancel in one, with substantial later additions. Around the middle of the 15th century, the north chancel aisle was added and the east end of the chancel rebuilt. In the later 15th century, the south aisle, south porch and west tower were added.

Exterior

The nave is visible only on the north side, where it features two 3-light windows with Perpendicular tracery and relieving arches, and a central pointed arched doorway with chamfered detail and a 19th-century studded door. A 19th-century ashlar chimney stack is present.

The chancel east end rises on a moulded plinth continuous with both aisles. Pilasters are surmounted by tall panelled piers with crocketed pinnacles. The 5-light Perpendicular east window has a 4-centred arch with hood mould and label stops.

The north chancel aisle consists of three bays with no plinth on the north side. All windows are 3-light with cusped lights and square hood mould. To the east, the verge sweeps down from the chancel with a 2-light window with cusped lights and Y tracery, set in a 4-centred arch with hood mould.

The south aisle extends to six bays on a hollow-chamfered plinth, with the porch located in the second bay from the west. All windows are 3-light with cusped lights, the central light taller with a 4-centred arch and hood mould with label stops. The west end features a similar, larger window, while the east end has a similar taller 4-light window with Y tracery.

The south porch is gabled on a hollow-chamfered plinth. The outer doorway has a tall 4-centred arch, hollow-chamfered with nook-shafts. Above the doorway is a 18th-century slate sundial with gnomon and cross finial. The interior of the porch has a granite paved floor and benches to the sides. A ceiled C15 wagon roof with carved ribs and wall-plates features bosses probably re-carved in the early 19th century. A holy water stoup with a carved shield is positioned to the right. The inner doorway has a tall 3-centred arch, roll-moulded with recessed spandrels; the tympanum bears a carved shield and leaves within a wave-moulded surround. A 19th-century door with good ironwork closes this opening.

The west tower rises in three stages on a chamfered plinth with set-back weathered buttresses and an embattled parapet topped with octagonal piers with crocketed pinnacles. The west door features a 4-centred arch and hood mould, with a 19th-century studded door. A 3-light west window has cusped lights, a 4-centred arch and hood mould. The third stage contains 3-light bell-openings with cusped lights and Perpendicular tracery, set in a 4-centred arch with hood mould and wooden louvres. To the northeast, a stair tower with lancet windows replaces the buttress.

Interior

The south aisle walls are plastered; the remainder of the structure retains stone rubble. The nave and chancel feature an early 19th-century wagon roof with carved bosses of similar workmanship to those at the Church of St Meubred, Cardinham. The south aisle has a wagon roof with some 15th-century carved ribs and wall-plate, with similar bosses. The north aisle roof is ceiled.

A tall round tower arch with imposts separates the aisles. The nave has a six-bay south arcade with Pevsner A-type piers and 4-centred arches; the north arcade is similar with three bays and a 19th-century wooden screen. Openings for the rood occur in both the north and south arcades. The wall steps back at the point where the north aisle was added.

Fittings and Monuments

The nave contains 19th-century wooden benches and a wooden pulpit, both with Gothic decorative detail. A 19th-century marble reredos is present. A fine stone font, probably of the 15th century, stands in the nave with an octagonal bowl carved with panels on an octagonal carved stem with panels and cable moulding.

In the north aisle, two carved wooden figures are fixed to a scrolled board, probably surviving from an early screen or as roof corbels. The floor is paved with early 19th-century headstones.

Monuments in the chancel include a slate headstone to Henry Vyvyan (1811) with carved figures in Gothic style; an oval stone tablet to Grace Phillipps (1818); and a marble tablet with urn to Richard Frewren (1792).

A fragment of 15th-century stained glass survives in the east window of the south aisle, depicting a shield of arms and a bishop's mitre.