Church of St Peter and St Mary Magdalene including the Doddridge Library

Church of St Peter and St Mary Magdalene including the Doddridge Library

A parish church of probable late 12th or early 13th-century date, enlarged in 1318, with a spire added in 1388-9 and the Doddridge Library constructed in 1667. The building was restored by Gilbert Scott from 1866 onwards and subsequently by J O Scott in the 1880s.

The main fabric consists of random stone rubble for the tower, nave and chancel, with coursed rubble used for the aisles, chancel chapels and Doddridge Library, all detailed in limestone and roofed in slate. The spire is a ribbed leaded broach spire.

The plan comprises a nave with north and south aisles, a north transept with the tower (replacing a south transept), a chancel, north and south chancel chapels, and the Doddridge Library adjoining the north chancel chapel with its own entrance from Church Walk. The windows are predominantly Perpendicular in style and were restored in the 19th century.

Externally, the north aisle has Tudor-arched windows. The south door, added in the 19th century, features a pointed arch with a blank panel above in an old Perpendicular surround topped by a cinquefoil arch. A smaller south chancel door of similar date is surmounted by an octagonal sundial with gilt lettering dated 1732. The twisted broach spire displays louvred belfry openings with triangular pediments topped by ball finials, two of which are dated 1636. Higher up on the east and west sides are small gabled canopies, the eastern one containing two bells.

The Doddridge Library has a Tudor-arched doorway and a three-light stone-mullioned window with cinquefoiled heads, both likely 19th-century work. The upper storey contains two windows of three lights with restored ovolo-moulded wood mullions. Between these windows is a moulded plaque inscribed "BIBLIOTHECA DODDRIDGIANA 1667". The front elevation features paired moulded string courses with ashlar masonry between them, topped by a crenellated parapet carved with quatrefoils and the town arms.

Internally, the nave and chancel arcades are of 14th-century style and were designed by Scott with carving by Harry Hems. The tower contains two 14th-century pointed arches with quarter-round mouldings. Waggon roofs extend throughout the building, the chancel roof being boarded and adorned with angels. The chancel and south chancel chapel retain medieval niches with trefoiled heads, presumably originally piscinas; one is unusual in having small side-niches with pointed heads.

The fittings include a 19th-century Gothic pulpit and font, the pulpit having re-set medieval Barnstaple tiles beneath it. An organ with Gothic case and painted pipes was installed in 1882 by J O Scott. Stained glass includes a tower window by Clayton & Bell and a west window by W F Dixon.

Numerous 17th-century wall monuments commemorate Barnstaple merchants, many displaying busts or full-length figures in high relief. These include a monument in the north transept to Thomas Horwood (died 1658), founder of the almshouses in Church Lane.

The church has six bells cast by John Briant in 1803, with two additional Barwell trebles added in 1897. The bells were restored in 1980.

The Doddridge Library contains part of a double-rib ceiling on its upper storey.