Church Of St John The Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist is a parish church with surviving late 12th to early 13th-century elements. The tower dates from the late 15th to early 16th century, while the rest was thoroughly refurbished and largely rebuilt in 1875 by R M Fulford, with sgraffito decoration designed by Fulford and executed by Vickery of Barnstaple.

The tower is built of roughly-coursed dressed blocks of brownish-red local conglomerate sandstone with Beer stone detail. The remainder uses similar stone but neater and snecked, with limestone detail quarried from nearby Ladram Bay. The slate roof is predominantly blue-grey but includes panels of scallop-shaped purple-coloured slate over the chancel, with red ridge tiles that are alternately plain and crested.

From the late 12th to early 13th-century church, only the Transitional north arcade and font survive. The rest of the nave, shallow north and south aisles, and chancel were rebuilt in 1875, with additions including a south transeptal chapel, a north aisle chapel, and a vestry south of the west tower. The tower itself is late 15th to early 16th century in Perpendicular style, while the 1875 rebuilding adopted Early Decorated style.

The Tower

The good, tall west tower has two stages. It is unbuttressed with a chamfered plinth, soffit-moulded dripcourses, and an embattled parapet. A semi-hexagonal stair turret projects from the south-east corner and rises higher than the main tower with its own embattled parapet. It has many Beer stone quoins and tiny slit windows. The belfry windows are square-headed, of two lights with sunken spandrels and cinquefoil heads. A smaller similar single-light window lights the ringing loft on the west side. Also on the west side is a good late 15th to early 16th-century Beer stone doorway with a Tudor arch, the spandrels carved as foliage, a moulded surround, and hoodmould with the labels carved as a man's and woman's heads. It contains 19th-century double plank doors with ornate strap hinges. Directly above is a partly-restored three-light window with Perpendicular tracery and a hoodmould.

The Vestry

In the angle of the tower and south aisle is a 19th-century vestry, different in style from the main 19th-century rebuild and possibly later than 1875. Built entirely of limestone, it has a chamfered plinth and a parapet with moulded coping over a moulded dripcourse. The west side includes a plain segmental pointed arch doorway, the canted corner contains a twin lancet window with ogee heads, and the centre of the south side breaks forward very slightly and contains a similar twin lancet.

The 1875 Exterior

The rest of the church exterior is 1875 work and consistent in style. There is a chamfered plinth, the ashlar buttresses have weathered offsets, and the gables have shaped kneelers and coping with a shallow soffit moulding. Although the roof is continuous between nave and chancel, the break is emphasised by coping and an apex cross. The chancel also has an apex cross. Additionally, the transept and chancel walls are enriched by two bands of rusticated sandstone ashlar. The roof is steeply-pitched to nave and chancel, breaking to a lower pitch over the aisles.

The south aisle has a four-window front, two each side of the south door. All are square-headed with broad bead-moulded surrounds and contain simple Decorated-style tracery. From left to right they are two lights, one light, one light, and three lights. The central bay containing the doorway is articulated like a porch, broken forward very slightly with flanking buttresses and gable over. The doorway is an ornate two-centred arch with moulded surround, the outer moulding on shafts with moulded capitals and bases. It contains double doors.

The transept is gabled and flanked by buttresses projecting forward. It contains two tall trefoil-headed lancets and above them, in the centre, an oculus with Decorated-style tracery, and above that a lancet ventilator. The east side is blind, returning to the chancel. In the corner of transept and chancel, a three-sided projection containing a corridor looks like a rood stair turret and contains a small twin lancet window with trefoil heads. The two windows on the south side of the chancel have arched heads and contain Decorated tracery, one light to left and two to right.

The east end has diagonal buttresses and a low moulded dripcourse which steps up below the east window. The tall three-light window has unusual Perpendicular tracery, a hoodmould with labels carved as foliage, and a relieving arch above of alternate purple and cream-coloured voussoirs. At the apex is another lancet ventilator.

The north aisle stops just short of the east end and its east end contains a two-light window with plate tracery and hoodmould with carved labels. On the north side the break between nave and chancel is marked by a buttress and the windows are similar to those on the south side. Left of the buttress are two windows: a two-light window to left and a four-light window to right, with a small priest's doorway in a plain two-centred arch in the middle. To right of the buttress are first a two-light, then a three-light and another two-light window, and in the west end another two-light window with plate tracery.

The Interior

The interior is good, mostly the result of the 1875 scheme. The nave has an open three-bay false hammerbeam truss roof with diagonal plank backing. The hammerbeams terminate as angels holding shields. Curved braces below are moulded and rest on moulded stone corbels. The aisles have simple lean-to roofs. The chancel has a three-bay roof with intermediate trusses. The main trusses are arch-braced and have carved praying angels at their feet standing on moulded stone corbels. The ribs and purlins are moulded and the roof is boarded in wagon fashion. There are carved bosses, some of which look as though they may be 15th century, but since they are painted this is difficult to prove.

The tower arch is late 15th to early 16th century with a Beer stone double-chamfered arch ring dying into plain responds. There is a 19th-century floor to the ringing loft. The chancel arch is 1875. The arch springs from ornate imposts resting on short half-engaged vaulting shafts with stiff-leaf capitals continued as an impost frieze. The arch itself is moulded with a sunken soffit carved as square rosettes. It includes a 19th-century rood.

The three-bay arcade from nave to aisle is late 12th to early 13th century in Transitional style, with low and broad circular piers with simply moulded capitals and pointed arches with double-chamfer rings. The further two bays overlapping the chancel are similar but may have been reset in the 19th century. The southern arcade is also similar in style but certainly 1875 in date. The rear column here has a clustered shaft. More stiff-leaf decoration appears on the eastern respond, and the corner to transept has a half-engaged vaulting shaft. Another pointed arch leads to the transept with more stiff-leaf decoration to the respond, and yet more to the trefoil-headed doorway to the corridor from chancel to transept.

The nave floor is a chequer pattern of red and black tiles, and encaustic tiles appear in the chancel, becoming more common towards the altar.

The Sgraffito Decoration

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the church is the 1875 sgraffito plaster wall treatment. The window rear arches and reveals are exposed stone ashlar, but the walls in general are clad with plaster: a buff ground cut back to expose mainly blue, red and green with occasional white and purple. The arches are framed by running foliage and the east window has a text over. Arcaded friezes contain various stylised plant forms and geometric patterns. The arch spandrels include religious emblems and motifs such as the Pelican in her piety, symbols of the Passion, Agnus Dei and floral emblems. The decoration becomes increasingly rich towards the altar. The scheme survives virtually intact.

Furnishings and Monuments

Most of the furnishings and fittings are also 1875 in date. The altar is oak with a blind Gothic arcade across the front which is carved and painted in a style similar to the wall decoration. There is a 20th-century reredos. To right of the altar is an arch-headed piscina which may actually be medieval, although the frame and credence are 19th century. The oak altar rail has wrought iron standards and scrolled brackets. The stalls and low chancel screen are timber and Gothic in style. Both have open arcades and the screen has poppyhead finials. The pulpit, lectern and tower screen are similar in style. Plain deal benches also date from 1875.

The font is late 12th to early 13th century. It is built of Beer stone with a plain octagonal bowl and circular stem containing a lower cable mould, and sitting on a 19th-century moulded base.

The only monuments are those moved into the tower in 1875. They are late 18th and 19th century and relatively plain black and white marble plaques. The best are those in memory of Henry Cutler who died in 1836 (which includes a carved heraldic achievement), that in memory of Susan Foster who died in 1834 (which has a Tudor Gothic frame), and that in memory of James and Sarah Hobbs (died 1809 and 1783) which has a frame of pink veined marble enriched with white florettes.

The 19th-century stained glass is quite good, some of it looking as if it came from differently shaped windows.

Historical Significance

The oldest part of the church, the Transitional north arcade, is a rare example of the period in Devon. The late 15th to early 16th-century west tower is virtually intact. The rest was rebuilt in 1875 and is a good Fulford restoration, particularly notable for the internal sgraffito plasterwork scheme.