Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church dating to the 15th century, with elements from the 12th and 13th centuries. It is located in Plymouth, Devon. The church suffered a serious fire in 1981 but has since been restored. It is designated a Grade II* listed building, recognising its group value and significant architectural interest.

The church is constructed of local rubble with dressings of volcanic stone and limestone, and has dry slate roofs with coped gables and stone finials. The plan consists of a nave and chancel under a single roof, a north and south aisle, a south porch, and a west tower. The south aisle was rebuilt in 1851, and the roofs of the south aisle and chancel were heightened at the same time. The north aisle, originally from the 12th and 13th centuries, was rebuilt wider in 1894-95.

The exterior features four 15th-century three-light windows with Perpendicular tracery on the south aisle, along with a similar window to the west end and an eastern window of 19th-century design within a 15th-century frame. The north aisle windows are 19th-century Perpendicular style. The south porch has a chamfered pointed-arched doorway. The corners of the aisles are buttressed. The tall, two-stage embattled tower has corner pinnacles and angle buttresses, with two-light traceried windows with louvres to the upper stage and a clock face to the east and west sides. The lower stage has small, square-headed windows, while the west doorway is pointed-arched.

Inside, the walls are plastered. The church features five-bay arcades with piers and four-centred moulded arches; the north piers are granite and the south piers are of Roborough stone. The nave, south aisle, chancel, and north aisle all have waggon roofs with 15th-century carved bosses. The tower retains its original roof with granite ribs. Notable fittings include a 15th-century octagonal granite font decorated with shields, a pillar with blank arches, and a 17th-century pulpit constructed from linenfold panelling and other Renaissance fragments, with an 19th-century base incorporating old panels. Also present are Royal arms of George III dated 1671, 1730, and 1810, 18th-century bells housed in an iron frame dating from 1936, 1851 pews in the nave, a tower screen (replacing a former gallery) erected in 1888, and chancel fittings from 1894-95. The eastern window contains stained glass from 1865. Several monuments are present, including a tomb chest with a knight and lady representing members of the Gorges family (probably 14th century), an ornate wall monument to Sir John Coplestone and his wife Susannah (1617), an alabaster monument to Susannah Calmady (1617), a monument to Coplestone Bampfylde (1669), and monuments to the Radcliffes of Warleigh.