Charles Church

Charles Church is a parish church ruin located in Plymouth, built between 1640 and 1658. It is one of the few established churches constructed during the Commonwealth period. The tower was completed in 1708, and a stone spire replaced the original wooden one in 1766. There are two small 19th-century additions, and the interior was refitted between 1828 and 1829 by JH Ball, although this work is now lost. The church was gutted during the Blitz and is now preserved as a symbolic ruin and war memorial at the center of a major roundabout.

The church is built from Plymouth limestone ashlar with granite dressings, featuring an ashlar spire on the tower. It is designed in the Gothic Survival style, showcasing elaborate Perpendicular details, except for the eastern chancel window, which has Decorated details with rose tracery. The plan includes a nave and chancel, north and south aisles, and a west tower.

The exterior features buttresses with finials that divide the bays, traceried windows with hoodmoulds, and a particularly fine eastern window. The doorways are 4-centred arched with square hoodmoulds. The three-stage tower has offset corner buttresses and strings that divide the diminishing stages. The upper-stage windows are round-arched and have simple tracery. The octagonal spire is set behind a parapet with a moulded cornice and square corner pinnacles topped with pineapple finials.

Inside, the church has arcades supported by standard A (Pevsner) piers and depressed arches, along with many wall monuments.