Church of St Petroc

Church of St Petroc

This is a parish church, now redundant, which was largely rebuilt between 1878 and 1880 by JF Gould, though it retains the 15th-century tower and reuses some 14th-century fabric.

The walls are constructed from snecked and rubble slate-stone with Hatherleigh-stone quoins to the buttresses and granite quoins and parapet to the tower. The church features granite, limestone, sandstone and Hatherleigh-stone dressings, with Delabole slate roofs and terracotta ridge tiles.

The building comprises a nave and chancel, north and south aisles, a south porch and a west tower.

The 15th-century west tower features diagonal buttresses at the angles and rises in three tapering stages to a crenelated parapet with four obelisk pinnacles. The west doorway is a granite four-centred arch with roll and hollow moulding and carved swirled stops at the base, with a hood mould above. Above this is a 15th-century three-light window, and the belfry has paired segmental-arched openings with louvres.

The south elevation displays a gabled porch set in the angle between the nave and the west end of the south aisle. The external four-centred chamfered arch reuses 14th-century fabric, and on the west side are two 19th-century cusped lancets. The porch gable coping terminates in a cross finial with a niche and two carved quatrefoils below. The south elevation also has a restored 15th-century square-headed window, then 19th-century Decorated-style windows of three lights, a lancet and a two-light window on the eastern return, and a two-light window to the chancel. The chancel extends from the nave and has a dentilled cornice and cross finial on the east gable. The east window is 19th-century Decorated-style with three lights, with further buttresses below and at the corners. On the north side of the chancel is a lean-to 19th-century vestry with a two-light shouldered-head window on the east wall and a shouldered-head doorway on the north wall; the timber door has wrought-iron decorative hinges. The north aisle has a two-light 19th-century Decorated-style window and two restored 15th-century windows of four multi-foiled lights separated by a mullion, with a three-light 19th-century Perpendicular-style window at the west end. The bays to the two aisles are defined by buttresses.

Inside, the oak wagon-style roofs to the nave, aisles and chancel are 19th-century with carved bosses by Harry Hems. The floor is laid with coloured quarry tiles, and the pews are pitch pine, both of standard mid-19th-century designs. Only the walls to the aisles and chancel are plastered and painted.

The arcade to the north aisle is 14th-century, rebuilt in the 19th century, and has octagonal piers with tall, pointed double-chamfered arches springing from chamfered capitals. On the north wall the restored 15th- and 19th-century windows have clear, leaded glazing. Mounted between the windows are two late-16th-century coffin brasses to Henry Rolle and his wife Margaret, depicted with their nineteen children. At the east end of the north aisle is a 19th-century pointed arch to the organ chamber containing an 1872 organ. The organ obscures a niche on the east wall, above which is a 19th-century window with clear, leaded glazing. Through an oak door from the organ chamber is a 19th-century vestry with a relocated 15th-century stained-glass window to the east featuring Yeo family heraldic crests. The south arcade is a 19th-century imitation of the north arcade but without capitals.

At the east end of the south aisle is the Lady Chapel, which has an embossed Russian-leather reredos and a mid-16th-century oak communion rail. The two windows in the Lady Chapel have 19th-century surrounds. The east window commemorates Samuel and Rebecca Bonifant, who died in the 1930s; Samuel established a charity for the relief of the poor of Petrockstowe in his will. The window on the south wall is a memorial to Charles and Lydia Moase of Petrockstowe, who died in New Jersey in 1871 and 1881 respectively. The stained glass in the two south aisle windows is by Kempe studios. The window to the east has three lights depicting Dorcas, the Virgin, and Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha; it is dedicated on a brass plaque beneath to Louis Woolcombe, rector of the parish from 1845 to 1888 (died 1889). The window to the west is within a restored 15th-century surround and depicts St Bartholomew, St Andrew, St Barnabas, and St Stephen; it is dedicated on a brass plaque beneath to Reverend Woolcombe's wife and daughter, Augusta (died 1892) and Elaia (died 1893). Between the windows is a marble memorial tablet to Samuel Bonifant (died 1855), his wife Elisabeth (died 1851), and their son Samuel (died 1836).

At the east end of the nave, on the south side, is a five-sided oak pulpit with panels containing carved strapwork and brackets at the top; it bears a carved date plaque of 1631. The 19th-century ogee base and steps are of Hatherleigh stone. At the west end of the nave, on the south side by the tower, is a square Norman font of about 1170 with a 16th-century pyramidal ornately-carved and crocketed oak font cover. The font has carved arcading and flowerhead decoration on its east and west sides, and wheel panelling on the north side. It stands on a 19th-century base of Hatherleigh stone with a central column and four corner shafts. The west tower arch has a four-centred double-chamfered head and rubble piers. On the north wall of the tower is a substantial 15th-century granite pointed arch to the tower stairs, and the west door is set within a taller opening with a basket-head arch. Three wall tablets in the tower commemorate Robert Rolle (died 1633) and his wife (died 1634); Stephen Venton (died 1784); and Catherine Mallet, wife of John (died 1810). The west tower window depicting St Peter and St Paul is a mid-19th-century memorial to Joseph Risden and his wife Sarah, set in a 15th-century surround.

At the end of the north arcade is a 19th-century arch set with an oak parclose screen which divides the chancel from the organ chamber; this is replicated on the south side to the Lady Chapel. In front of the screens, the choir stalls are 19th-century oak with pierced tracery and rosettes.

The chancel was rebuilt and fitted out in the 19th century. The chancel floor is laid with encaustic tiles. There are three red Devon marble steps up to the altar, which stands on a red Devon marble plinth, set with 19th-century tessellated tiles beneath the altar. The oak reredos is late 19th-century and depicts the evangelists flanking the entombment, surmounted by angels, with a dedication below. It is flanked by two pointed-head carved stone pilasters and rests on a row of stone corbels. The 19th-century east window depicts the Crucifixion, flanked by St Petroc holding a church and St John the Baptist. A 19th-century window on the south wall has clear, leaded glazing. Against the south wall of the chancel is a pedestal piscina hollowed from a Norman cushion capital, set on a cylindrical stone shaft. Above the piscina is a credence with sedilia below. The altar rails are 19th-century, brass and wrought-iron set with coloured glass beads. There is various other contemporary metalwork, including two wall-brackets for candles.