Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a large parish church of medieval origins, extensively rebuilt in the mid-15th century. Bishop Lacey granted indulgences for church repairs in 1451. The chancel was refurbished in the late 17th century, and a very extensive restoration between 1887 and 1891 included rebuilding the north and south aisles, reroofing and reslating, scraping the aisle piers, and replacing windows.

The church is built of roughly coursed ashlar, predominantly volcanic trap with some mudstone and granite quoins and plinth. Original details are in granite and Beerstone, with Bathstone used for restoration work. The roofs are slate. The building comprises a high west tower, nave, chancel, north and south aisles, and south porch, all in the Perpendicular style.

Tower

The imposing west tower, mostly 15th-century fabric, rises to 30 metres. It has two stages, setback buttresses, and an embattled parapet with granite obelisk pinnacles on the corners. The chamfered granite plinth supports a semi-octagonal stair turret on the north side that projects and rises above the tower with its own embattled parapet. This turret includes a series of tiny Beerstone or volcanic lights, some with trefoil heads. Original granite two-light belfry windows with round-headed arches and sunken spandrels appear on each side.

The west side features a 15th-century two-centred granite arch with moulded surround and restored hoodmoulds. The four-light Bathstone window above is restored with Decorated-style tracery. A moulded granite string course is 15th-century, as are small arch-headed volcanic windows to the ringing loft (one on the north side and a round-headed granite window on the south side). Below the belfry window sits a late 19th-century circular clockface with brass Roman numerals.

South Aisle and Porch

The south aisle and porch were completely rebuilt in 1887-91 and feature Bathstone arch-headed windows with Decorated-style tracery and hoodmoulds with plain square labels. The embattled parapet has offset buttresses on each corner. A 19th-century two-light window appears in the west end.

The 19th-century gable-ended porch on the south side has low diagonal buttresses. Its outer two-centred arch incorporates reused moulded volcanic sides with a 19th-century Bathstone head. Bathstone kneelers and coping feature a fleuree cross on the apex. A small Bathstone niche under the gable has a cinquefoil head. Small Bathstone trefoil-headed lancets in each side contain 19th-century stained glass representations of St George and St Catherine. The porch roof has black ridge tiles with crests cut through with small quatrefoils.

A 19th-century three-light window sits to the left of the porch. Immediately to the right, a volcanic stone chimney shaft with exaggerated cap, soffit-moulded and with a low crenellated top, rises from the parapet. Two three-light windows to the right of the porch are separated by a buttress. The left window has Perpendicular Beerstone tracery and a hoodmould with carved face labels, probably reset original 15th-century work. The three-light window in the east end of the aisle also has 15th-century Perpendicular Beerstone tracery but no hoodmould.

Chancel

The chancel is roughcast and was apparently not restored in the late 19th century. The south side includes a small volcanic stone segmental-headed priest's door at the left end and a late 17th-century round-headed window containing rectangular panes of leaded glass. The east gable end has a larger late 17th-century round-headed window. A late 19th-century vestry sits on the north side of the chancel.

North Aisle

The north aisle was also rebuilt in 1887-91 with an embattled parapet but no buttresses. Of the north-facing windows, three have apparently 15th-century Perpendicular Beerstone tracery with 19th-century hoodmoulds. The window right of centre is entirely late 19th century with Bathstone Decorated-style tracery. A late 19th-century two-light version appears in the west end.

Interior

The porch has a reused 15th-century unceiled wagon roof with moulded ribs and purlins, including two bosses both carved with IHS monograms, and a late 19th-century crenellated wallplate. The floor is late 19th-century encaustic tile. A late 19th-century Bathstone arch leads to the south door.

The nave has a high six-bay hammerbeam roof of late 19th-century work but may include some older moulded timbers. The aisles have simple late 19th-century low-pitch lean-to roofs. The plastered vault of the chancel may hide a medieval roof.

The very high tower arch has a double chamfered surround with late 19th-century painted text over, featuring the Lamb and Flag motif. Inside the tower are a high late 19th-century ringing floor and contemporary bas-relief plaster strapwork frieze featuring moulded emblems of the Trinity, different crosses, sacred monograms, and similar devices. The original granite arched doorway with hollow chamfered surround leads to the stairs.

The four-bay arcades to the north and south aisles both have one bay overlapping to the chancel. Built of volcanic stone and sandstone, the moulded piers (Pevsner's Type B) have capitals only to the main shafts. They are largely original but were scraped and some stone renewed in 1887-91.

A plastered arch leads to the lower and slightly narrower chancel, which was refurbished in the late 17th century with new round-headed windows, a plastered ceiling, moulded plaster cornice, and walls panelled with large-field plaster bolection mouldings above oak fielded-panel wainscotting. The east window contains 18th-century stained glass in Peckham style with geometric patterns and orange predominating.

A fine late 17th-century oak reredos features flanking fluted Ionic pilasters, a moulded cornice, and a central oval panel painted with the legend "This do in Remembrance of me". The mahogany altar rail on turned balusters was made by W. Stribling in 1768.

The restored late 15th-century oak rood screen is a very fine and sumptuously decorated example, similar to the screen at the Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Lapford. Extending across both aisles and the chancel, it has Pevsner's B Type Perpendicular tracery over wainscotting with applied tracery with ogival heads and lower quatrefoils. Above the arches, the ribbed coving is enriched with Renaissance motifs, and above this the cornice is covered by friezes of densely carved openwork foliage. The screen was apparently removed to nearby Beech Hill House during the Commonwealth and in 1840 was set in tiers as a tower screen. It required extensive restoration work in 1930 by Herbert Reed & Sons before it resumed its original position. The original work retains traces of ancient colour.

The north aisle includes a blocked flat-arched doorway to the now-demolished stair to the rood loft. The nave and aisles have 19th-century tile floors and include some old worn graveslabs, notably one of 1690 in the north aisle in memory of Julia Wheeler with an heraldic achievement. The aisles have a late 19th-century ceramic dado, and the south aisle incorporates a reset 15th-century Beerstone aumbry with cusped cinquefoil head.

The choir stalls and pews are late 19th century but seem to include much earlier oakwork. The Beerstone font dates from 1848. The timber pulpit and lectern are 20th century.

Two 15th-century recumbent figures in the south aisle were originally in the south aisle chapel with an ogee sepulchral arch below the window. They are thought to represent Gabriel Green (died 1485) and his wife Dorothy (died 1480) of Easton Barton. He is shown in a civilian gown with burgher's cap and short sword; she wears a close-fitting bodice, pyramid headdress, and low girdle with rosary beads.

The chancel includes two good late 17th-century mural monuments. On the north side, the William Tuckfield memorial (died 1688) comprises a black marble rectangular plaque flanked by Beerstone pilasters enriched by bas-relief garlands and outside strapwork, with a panelled head with dentil cornice and moulded entablature surmounted by an heraldic achievement in cartouche, the whole on a moulded sill with strapwork below around a heater. On the south side, the Edward Pridham memorial (died 1687) comprises a black marble rectangular plaque with bolection-moulded frame flanked by Ionic columns which support a moulded entablature with broken pediment and central heraldic achievement in cartouche, the whole on a moulded sill on scroll-shaped brackets with a bifurcated swag between.

Another good mural monument in the tower is a memorial to John (surname illegible) of Southcott (died 1704), comprising a rectangular black marble plaque set in Beerstone with flanking panels enriched with bas-relief garlands between a moulded entablature surmounted by an heraldic achievement in cartouche with flaring horns, the whole on a moulded sill on brackets carved as skulls with folded wings and with an empty cartouche between. All these memorials have traces of ancient colour, but the arms of Edward Pridham have been retouched. The tower memorial is flanked by 19th-century benefaction boards.

A 17th-century oak chest in the north aisle has a chip-carved arcaded front.

The church has immense landscape value, the tower being visible for miles around. It also includes a very rare late 17th-century chancel.