Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints

This parish church at Thurlestone combines fabric from the 12th century onwards, with the earliest elements dating to the 13th century, major rebuilding in the 15th century, a significant repair in 1685, and restoration in 1904 by G. Fellowes Prynne. The church is constructed of roughly coursed slatestone rubble with gabled slate roofs and comprises a nave, chancel, west tower, south aisle and porch.

The west tower is three storeys with crenellations, set back buttresses, and a five-sided stair turret on the south side rising above the parapet. The tower features one and two-light cinquefoil belfry openings. The west doorway displays the characteristic rubble arch form of the South Hams tradition with a recessed inner arch; the window above it was entirely renewed in the 1904 restoration in Perpendicular style.

The north wall of the nave contains two debased Perpendicular windows, apparently dating from the 1685 repairs. At the chancel end a break in the stonework marks a single 13th-century lancet window, now partly obscured by the crenellated vestry built against the north chancel wall. The vestry has a large rubble stack built onto the north chancel wall and incorporates an early 16th-century three-light mullioned window re-used from elsewhere. The chancel's east window was entirely renewed in Perpendicular style during restoration, while a late medieval granite Perpendicular window survives at the end of the south aisle. The south aisle extends four bays with a chapel at its end. The chapel contains a Perpendicular three-light window, while the aisle itself has larger debased Perpendicular windows without tracery, separated by buttresses. One buttress above the priest's door divides to form a shallow porch. The west end of the aisle has a two-storey crenellated porch with diagonal buttresses at the front and a small segmental-headed light above the doorway, which has a four-centred moulded granite arch with square hoodmould.

Internally, the porch features a good foliage-carved intersecting beamed ceiling with central boss, though the floor above has been removed. The south doorway is a simple four-centred arched form with chamfered moulding and carved spandrels. The church walls are plastered. A five-bay granite arcade with Pevsner A-type piers, simple moulded cup capitals and chamfered four-centred arches divides the nave and aisle. A two-centred double tower arch with projecting imposts connects to the chancel. The wagon roofs have been entirely renewed.

The south chapel contains a fine 17th-century memorial to Thomas Stephens (died 1658) and his wife Julian (died 1677) of Clannacombe House, depicting a lady and gentleman kneeling at prayer with three sons and four daughters. On the south wall of the chapel is a wall memorial showing a divine kneeling before a desk, inscribed to Henrie Luscombe, Rector of the parish. The church retains a good 12th-century red sandstone tub font with chevron and cable moulding and carved honeysuckle ornament around the exterior.