Church of St Matthew

Church of St Matthew, Cheriton Fitzpaine

A parish church with 14th-century nave and chancel, extended in the 15th century with aisles, porch and tower. The building was restored in 1883–1885 by James Crocker of Exeter. It is constructed of snecked volcanic stone and new red sandstone with mostly Beer stone but some volcanic ashlar detail, and has slate roofs.

The church comprises a nave and chancel with full-length aisles and eastern chapels under parallel roofs, a west tower and a two-storey south porch. All elements are in the Perpendicular style. The west tower has two stages with low offset buttresses and an embattled parapet with corner pinnacles. Most of the tower has been roughcast since 1706 according to churchwarden's accounts. It features original volcanic two-light belfry windows with cinquefoil heads (except on the west side, which has round heads). The west side also has an original Beer stone arched doorway with moulded surround and four-leaf enrichment, beneath a three-light Perpendicular window with replacement Beer stone tracery under an arched hoodmould. On the south side, a projecting demi-hexagonal stair turret rises to below belfry level and finishes with a pyramidal roof.

The two-storey south porch has a low-pitch stepped gable with moulded coping and embattled side parapets. It contains an almost-rounded moulded archway with a small ornate Beer stone niche above, flanked by pilasters and topped with a richly carved pinnacled canopy. The niche houses a figure of St Matthew, a gift to the church in 1885 from Reverend George Dowty. Above is a square-headed two-light Beer stone window with trefoil-headed lights, partly restored. On the gable sits a large lead sundial with an iron arm, apparently erected in 1720 and remodelled in 1741. A square stair turret rises from the corner of the porch and aisle above the parapet with embattled parapet.

The south front has four windows interrupted by the porch. The west end of the south aisle has a low-pitch stepped gable with Beer stone coping and contains a three-light 19th-century replacement window. All windows on this elevation are Beer stone, arch-headed three-lights with hoodmoulds; only that to the right of the porch appears to retain some original tracery. Buttresses stand between the windows. Towards the right end is a restored volcanic stone priests' door, arch-headed with ovolo surround. Three 18th-century lead drainpipes on this side have mounts and rainwater heads displaying a series of initials and dates from the 1740s.

The east front has three gables with diagonal buttresses either side and buttresses under each valley. Both the north and south aisles have similar partly-restored three-light arch-headed windows with ogee heads and cusped tracery. The chancel has a larger four-light version with a transom and a lower tier with cusped trefoil heads. The hoodmould features human head labels and a gable above surmounted by a stone cross.

The north front has five windows of partly-restored three-light type similar to those on the south aisle, with intermediate and end diagonal buttresses. Left of centre is a rood stair turret projecting square; to the right of centre is a window now blocked by a 20th-century vestry. A restored three-light window appears on the west end.

Interior

The porch has a Beer stone ribbed vault springing from angel corbels over half-engaged columns in each corner, with a series of bosses carved to represent the stigmata and other symbols of the Passion. The church entrance comprises a moulded, almost round-headed arch containing a 19th-century door.

Both aisles, the nave and chancel are roofed with wagon roofs. The south aisle roof appears to be 1883 work using old timbers, arranged as a low-pitch curve of plain chamfered ribs with more slender members over the Lady Chapel at the east end. The nave has a 16th-century ceiled wagon roof with moulded ribs and intricately carved flat bosses with finials at the corners; the wall plate has bosses including several sun motifs. The lower chancel roof is similar to the nave but lacks the wall plate enrichment. The north aisle and chapel have a very high-quality 15th-century ceiled wagon roof with moulded ribs enriched with four-leaf decoration and carved oak bosses.

The tower arch is plain with soffit chamfered imposts. The 14th-century moulded volcanic chancel arch (Pevsner's B Type) has caps to half-engaged columns, with the wave carried continuously through. A single corbel projects into the nave.

A superior five-bay Beer stone arcade runs on both sides of the church, comprising three arches to the nave and two to the chancel. The arcade features clustered column shafts with carved foliage capitals and, in the chancel, demi-figures of angels bearing shields above the pier capitals. This style is thought to emulate Exeter Cathedral. Windows have hollow-chamfered rear arches. The floor includes many grave slabs of notable quality from the late 16th and 17th centuries, some in black or white marble.

A blocked 15th-century arch-headed volcanic stone doorway to the former rood stair is visible in the north wall. A very elaborate square-framed chancel screen was erected in 1926 in memory of Arthur George May of Durban, South Africa, a former Cheriton resident; it was made by Caröe and Passmore. Another framed screen of circa 1912 spans the tower arch.

The 1885 restoration introduced furnishings and fittings that remain: Maw's encaustic tile floor to the chancel, a Beer stone Gothick reredos featuring carved emblems of the Evangelists and polychrome mosaic, stalls, pews (much reusing 18th-century oak), stained glass and an altar rail. The font dates from 1874. A possibly 15th-century plain arched piscina stands to the right of the reredos, and a niche in the north chapel may have housed an aumbry or piscina.

The north chapel contains graves and memorials of families from Upcott Barton. In the north-east corner is a fine marble wall monument of 1691 to John Moore, comprising an oval plaque with nut husk garland within an architecturally framed surround of flanking Corinthian columns, moulded entablature and open pediment with acanthus and egg-and-dart cornice crowned by heraldic cartouches. The whole is carried by a moulded sill on fluted brackets which frame a later panel in memory of John's wife (died 1700). The monument preserves traces of ancient colour. In the south-west of the chancel is a fine grey marble mural monument to Nicholas Hickes (died 1704) and his wife Elizabeth (died 1718), featuring carved drapery with swags, an oval tablet with bolection-moulded frame, a heraldic cartouche with flanking cherub heads, and at the bottom, a skull with wings. To the left of the reredos, partly obscured by it, is an early 19th-century white marble mural monument to Reverend John Arundel surmounted by a Grecian vase and crossed torches on a shaped black marble base. Above the south door are painted arms of Charles II dated 1665, naively restored in 1971.

Two 16th- or 17th-century oak chests are present in the church, one crudely inscribed RM 1611.

The tower houses a ring of six bells. The oldest was cast by John Pennington of Exeter in 1665 and hangs in a frame of 1893. A late 19th-century clock by Smith's of Derby is also present.

Historical Note

The church was dedicated to St Mary before 1850 and was known as All Saints in the 14th century.