Parish Church Of St Dionysius

Parish Church of St Dionysius

This is a parish church at Bradninch, mainly dating from the 15th and early 16th centuries, though earlier masonry survives in the chancel and possibly the base of the tower. The church was restored in 1806, substantially rebuilt in 1841 (when the nave and aisles were heightened, piers reconstructed, and the south wall re-erected), and further restored by Hayward in 1881 and 1889.

The building is constructed of coursed rubble volcanic trap and comprises a west tower, nave, north and south aisles, south porch, chancel, and north-west and north-east vestries.

The exterior is dominated by a tall west tower standing 90 feet high, with the belfry dating from 1437 according to an indulgence recorded in Bishop Lacy's Register. The tower rises in four stages with battlements and corner pinnacles, except to the south-east where a polygonal corner stair turret, separately battlemented, rises even higher. It has set-back angle buttresses with four set-offs. The belfry features 2-light pointed openings, each light cusped with quatrefoil in the head. The second stage to the east displays a cinquefoil-headed niche under a square hood mould with elaborate quatrefoil motifs, while the north and south sides of this stage have 2-light openings lighting a ringing chamfer. A cinquefoil-headed statue niche sits above the 4-light west window. The Perpendicular west door dates from the 1841 rebuilding and sits under a heavily moulded arch. Hayward added a tower vestry to the north with a hipped roof, a west door, and an adjacent segmentally-headed window, plus two similar windows to the north.

Both the south and north aisles are six bays long. The south aisle includes the porch (dated 1881) and both aisles have buttresses with two set-offs, those at the angles set diagonally. Between these buttresses stand 3-light Perpendicular windows, with matching 3-light windows at the east and west ends. The north aisle has no porch but is otherwise similar. The tracery and mullions of all windows appear largely to be 19th-century work; the unusual proportions of the side elevations result from the 1841 heightening.

The chancel contains a 2-light north window, a 3-light east window set high up, and a 3-light south window with hood mould terminals, one bearing a shield identified as belonging to Richard Norton, Precentor of Exeter Cathedral (1512–24). The lower courses of chancel masonry may date from the 13th century or earlier. A 19th-century north-east castellated vestry has a 2-light square-headed east window. A priest's door to the south also dates from the 19th century.

The interior shows a nave and choir of six bays with no structural division, leading to an unaisled sanctuary. The piers have double wavy moulding and floriated capitals, some of high quality, including a Green Man. The south arcade features particularly fine capitals. A canopied niche is set on one of the north aisle piers. The west capital of the south arcade differs from the others, bearing shields and fleurons. The tower arch has three shafts to each respond with separate capitals. Window arches have internal shafts, except the chancel windows, where the south window arch is brought down to form sedilia. All roofs are 19th-century work: the nave and chancel have ceiled roofs with principals and arched braces, the nave featuring king posts and a panelled wall plate, while the aisles have flat ceiled roofs.

Two medieval screens survive. A parclose screen to the south, originally demarcating the chapel of St Nicholas Guild, is the earlier, probably dating from the mid-15th century. It has four bays with the central pair wider, three cusped lights to each bay, chunky foliage in the spandrels, and contemporary painted panels below. The rood screen comprises twelve bays with piers encased to form canopied figure niches (containing 17th-century figures) to the west, each bay having four cusped lights bearing shields similar to those at Rewe. The screen has coving with a 3-tiered cornice and a 19th-century frieze. The painted figures in the panels range from the early 16th century to the 19th century; the rear cornice survives with painted abstract designs on its panels. This screen was restored by Bradley of Exeter in 1853.

Furnishings include a stone pulpit of 1888, a wooden altar table of around 1600, a south aisle altar frontal incorporating 16th-century work, and 19th-century benches and choir stalls.

Monuments include two large oval inscription panels with architrave under a broken segmental pediment in black and white marble in the chancel north aisle, erected in 1679 for Peter Seynthill (died 1648), and an elegant stone plaque to Thomas Pearse (died 1830) on the south aisle west wall.

The stained glass includes a good set of patterned glass in the aisles by Drake, with the sequence completed in 1872. The west window contains an excellent Doom by Clayton and Bell, dated 1880. The east window is by Ward & Hughes (undated), the south aisle south-east window is by Hardman (circa 1850).

A piscina from the now-demolished chapel at Trinity in Bradninch Parish has been reset in the north-east vestry.