Parish Church of St Mary is a Grade II listed building in the East Devon local planning authority area, England. First listed on 19 March 1987. Church.
Parish Church of St Mary
- WRENN ID
- cold-solder-primrose
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- East Devon
- Constituency
- Exmouth and Exeter East MP: David Reed (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 19 March 1987
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Parish Church of St Mary, Church Lane, Clyst St. Mary
- OS grid reference
- SX 978 903
- Coordinates
- 50.70372, -3.44734
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The parish church of St Mary, originally dating possibly to the 13th and 15th centuries, has undergone significant alterations across several periods. Transepts were added in 1818, with further extensions in 1840. The transepts were lengthened in 1870, and a substantial internal re-orientation occurred between 1895 and 1896, resulting in the south transept being converted into the chancel. The building is constructed of blocked stucco with a slate roof and takes a cruciform shape.
The west tower is distinguished by its battlemented parapet and pronounced string course. It has a single stage with two-light square-headed belfry openings on all sides. The tower is contained within a widened section of the original nave, likely expanded around 1840, and presents a symmetrical entrance front. The west door has a hood mould with floriated terminals, and above it is a window featuring three quatrefoils within roundels. A clock is set within a stone surround to the north side. The windows are predominantly 19th century, divided into two building schemes. Three-light Decorated windows with hood moulds and head terminals are found at the north, south, and east ends and appear older than the two- or three-light windows without hood moulds, which are located on the north wall of the former chancel and the east and west walls of the present chancel.
A lean-to vestry is accessed via a gabled north porch, which is flanked by a lancet window. The vestry doorway has a chamfered top with a trefoil head. Inside, wagon roofs are present over the nave and chancel; a boarded wagon roof covers the old chancel. A chamfered stone arch defines the former chancel, while a wooden arch (1895-6) marks the present chancel. The ritual east window features internal nook shafts and keeled, stiff-leaf capitals. A five-bay wooden screen in Perpendicular style, dating to approximately 1895-6, was made locally. The interior also features three 19th-century stained glass windows from the 1870s, by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake, which are of high quality.
Local climate
Parish Church of St Mary receives an average of 810 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 51% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 74% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 17 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 83% of listed buildings. Of these, 6 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings