Church of St Thomas of Canterbury

Church of St Thomas of Canterbury

This is a parish church in Thorverton, located on the west side of Dinneford Street. The building displays a complex architectural history spanning from the medieval period to the mid-20th century.

The west tower probably dates to the 15th century, although a 13th-century date has been suggested. The south porch is also 15th-century work. The church underwent major rebuilding between 1834 and 1840 by an architect yet to be identified. John Hayward of Exeter carried out reseating in 1840, contemporary with his work on the new vicarage. Archdeacon Freeman initiated a substantial restoration in 1864, which included a new pulpit, reseating, and the construction of the north transept. The vestry was rebuilt in 1884, the tower was restored in 1905, and further restorations took place in 1953–55 and 1971–72.

The building is constructed of dressed local volcanic stone brought to course, with Bath stone dressings for the most part, and a slate roof.

The present plan consists of a west tower, nave, north and south aisles, a shallow chancel, a north transept, a north-west vestry, and a south porch. Although Perpendicular style details are evident, the church was thoroughly rebuilt between 1834 and 1840, with the exception of the tower and south porch. The walls were heightened, and the nave and aisles were re-roofed under one span with embattled parapets. This early restoration programme is of considerable historic and architectural interest, preceding the fully developed Gothic Revival elsewhere in the county.

The exterior displays early 19th-century proportions to the nave and chancel. The shallow chancel has diagonal buttresses and is crowned with a pediment-like gable bearing a cross and pierced with a traceried roundel. The five-light transomed mullioned Perpendicular-style east window features a king mullion and hoodmould with carved animal label stops. The embattled lean-to north and south aisle roofs are characteristic of the rebuilding campaign. The south aisle has diagonal buttresses and buttresses with set-offs and pinnacles between the bays. The south windows are three-light Perpendicular style, as is the similar three-light east window and two-light west window. The north aisle contains a similar three-light west window. The battlemented north transept of 1864 is constructed of snecked local volcanic stone and features Perpendicular-style windows with carved label stops; the east and west windows are two-light and the north window is four-light.

The flat-roofed north-west vestry, rebuilt in 1884, has buttresses, an ogival west doorway, and a one-light cusped west window. The three-stage battlemented west tower lacks pinnacles and has diagonal buttresses; those on the north and south faces are taller than those on the west face. The west doorway has a chamfered moulded arch of volcanic stone and is surmounted by a three-light Perpendicular-style west window whose jambs are probably medieval, though the tracery has been replaced. The doorway features a hoodmould and carved label stops. Two-light belfry openings occupy the west, north, and south faces, with an additional two-light opening at bellringers' stage on the south face.

The north face of the tower displays a projecting 15th-century two-stage three-sided stair turret with a coped roof. The south porch is a fine two-storey battlemented structure with set-back buttresses and a north-west stair turret. A two-light first-floor square-headed west window features arched lights and hollow-chamfered mullions. The outer doorway is a 19th-century Bath stone round-headed moulded entrance with substantial cushion stops. The interior of the porch is particularly noteworthy, featuring a stone-vaulted Beerstone roof with local volcanic infill and fine carved bosses and corbels. The central boss probably depicts the Trinity and is comparable to the porch boss at Sidbury Church. The subsidiary bosses represent the four evangelists and the Latin Fathers of the church. The inner doorway is moulded with stopped details, and commemorative tiling from 1884 adorns the floor. Coleridge family memorials are located at the east end of the south aisle.

The interior demonstrates good proportions resulting from the 1834–40 rebuilding and retains high-quality fittings. The walls are plastered and there is no chancel arch. The tower arch is plain, springing from chamfered imposts. The tall six-bay north and south arcades, together with two bays to the chancel, have been rebuilt and raised but preserve some medieval capitals. The piers have corner shafts and support moulded Tudor arches. The two westernmost capitals retain traces of ancient paint. The roofs are plain plastered wagon form, with the aisle roofs keeled. A wide depressed north arch leads into the transept, springing from clustered demi-shafts with foliage carving on the capitals and in the spandrels. The transept roof features an arched brace design, boarded behind, with principal rafters springing from angel corbels that carry symbols of the Beatitudes.

The chancel contains good fittings from the early 19th-century restoration. A stone arcaded reredos of circa 1840 is brattished and flanked by painted stone communion tablets in ogee-headed frames with pinnacles. An east window of the same period contains stained glass by Beer of Exeter, accompanied by altar rails and a credence table. The choir stalls date from 1864–66 and were made by Messrs. Rattee and Kett of Cambridge; they feature poppy head finials and carved figures. A fine gilt memorial corona by Skidmore commemorates John Duke Coleridge, incumbent from 1834 to 1858. An eagle lectern of 1843, executed in bronzed iron by W and J Cooper of Kings Lynn, is a copy of the lectern in Kings Lynn Church. A high-quality polygonal stone pulpit from 1864–66 displays Early English blind arcading and stepped buttresses on angel corbels. The nave contains 1864–66 poppyhead bench ends with open traceried panels, while the aisle bench ends are plainer.

The font has a medieval octagonal bowl on shafts with a plinth. A 15th-century doorway leads to the room over the porch, featuring a rounded arch rebated for a door. The Lady Chapel was refurbished in 1971–72 and contains four medieval bench ends. A corona commemorating Archdeacon Freeman, incumbent from 1856 to 1875, was made by Willy of Exeter. An early 20th-century Lady Chapel screen, originally from St Edmund's Church in Exeter, is also present. A particularly interesting carillon of 16th or 17th-century date has recently been repaired and restored to working order.