Parish Church Of St Mary

Parish Church of St Mary, Uffculme

This is a parish church of mixed medieval and 19th-century date, constructed principally of coursed rubble limestone with a slate roof. The early 14th-century work comprises the north arcade, tower arch, and probably the masonry of the north wall and parts of the chancel. The north aisle east extension and south aisle arcade are likely contemporary with the rood screen, generally accepted as early 15th century. Apart from a few details, nothing else is medieval. The north aisle and nave roofs date to the 18th century; the chancel roof and furnishings are from 1843. An outer south aisle was added by John Hayward in 1846–7, and the west tower and spire were rebuilt (using some medieval material) in 1849, probably under Hayward's direction.

The building comprises a west tower and spire, a nave, north and south aisles, an outer south aisle, north and south porches, a chancel with north chancel aisle, a sanctuary, and a vestry to the north of the chancel.

The steeple consists of a three-stage tower with corner buttresses with set-offs. The belfry windows are two-light Decorated style with pointed arches; the bellringing chamber has lancet windows. The west doorway features a two-centred arch with a hoodmould. A clock sits in a recessed stone roundel facing west. A corbel table with mainly 1840s heads runs along the tower, and a spire with corner pinnacles on broaches and two-light openings crowns the structure.

The north aisle has a four-light 19th-century Perpendicular west window with transom. The north side comprises five bays, including a battlemented porch with a parvise approached by external stairs. The aisle has three-light Perpendicular windows on its north side, some retaining medieval detail, and a three-light east window. A lean-to vestry with its stack stands adjacent to the chancel wall. Evidence of dismantled buildings lies to the south of the chancel. The four-light east chancel window with transom dates to 1849, as do all the three-light windows of the south aisle and the porch. Four-light east and west aisle windows with transoms complete the fenestration.

Internally, the church contains four-bay arcades. The three bays of the north arcade have double-chamfered arches, circular piers, and moulded capitals and bases. The tower arch is similarly treated. The south arcade features wavy moulding to its arches and piers with shafts at principal points, each with separate capitals. The outer aisle arcade copies the 15th-century style. The north aisle to chancel has a wide arch similar in detail to the south aisle arcade.

A sanctuary piscina is present. The north aisle and nave roofs are ceiled with moulded plaster cornices. The chancel has a ceiled wagon roof with a ceilure over the sanctuary and plaster ribs. The south aisle roof is panelled and appears to date from the late 19th century. The outer aisle has an unceiled wagon roof which, although it may incorporate some medieval fragments, is almost entirely Hayward's work from the 1840s. The dimensions preclude the possibility of its having been moved from another part of the church, contrary to general belief.

The rood screen comprises 17 bays and is fully discussed by Bond and Camm. It probably slightly predates the screen at Halberton (dated 1420). The screen is complete with coving, cornice, and brattishing. The extension across the outer south aisle is a remarkable piece of high-class mid-19th-century craftsmanship. The three north bays date to 1828. A 19th-century north parclose screen is also present.

Furnishings include 16th-century panelling from elsewhere, reset in the north-east chapel (Walrond Chapel) and as a tower screen. A pulpit dated 1715 is a piece in the Wren-Gibbons style, notably un-Devonian in character. A polygonal stone font dates to 1843 and was made by Knight. A reredos and stone altar table, also carved by Knight, form an attractive ensemble. The church's seating arrangements have been completely reordered, with the altar brought forward and seating arranged in a half-circle around it.

The east window glass dates to 1849. Monuments include a 1663 tomb chest in the north chancel chapel with portrait medallions set between pilasters with caryatids, executed in a somewhat Baroque style. Two half-length busts and an effigy of a man are now placed upon and above the chest. Early 19th-century mural monuments stand in the sanctuary, and a pair of mural monuments with swathed urns flank the north door; both were erected in 1810 as a matching pair commemorating various individuals.

Externally, the church is striking and distinctive, with a west steeple of very un-Devonian character. Its impact results almost entirely from Hayward's extensive restoration, extension, and large-scale rebuilding of 1846–9. The early 14th-century arcade is a comparative rarity in the county. The rood screen is famous as the longest in Devon, though part is 19th-century work, and it represents fine early 15th-century work, predating the bulk of Devon screens produced thereafter.