Church Of Holy Trinity

Church of Holy Trinity

A parish church in Milton Damerel with late 13th-century origins and 14th-century fabric, substantially remodelled in the 16th century and restored between circa 1900 and 1910. The building is constructed of stone rubble walls with a gable-ended slate roof. The plan comprises a nave, north aisle and chapel, a west tower, and a south porch.

The oldest architectural feature is an Early English window at the east end of the north chapel. The church was heavily rebuilt during the Decorated period, as evident in the nave and chancel. The north aisle is clearly an early 16th-century structure, with a visible straight joint marking its junction with the chapel. The south porch dates to the 16th or 17th century.

The tower was struck by lightning in 1879, leaving the church in ruins for twenty years. It was partly re-erected in 1892 and fully rebuilt in 1910–11, reopening in 1904. The tower is now a rebuilt two-stage battlemented structure with a simple two-light west window and belfry openings.

The exterior features a north aisle with two tall early 16th-century three-light granite mullion windows with segmental heads and a sandstone two-centre arched chamfered north doorway. A straight joint is visible between the north aisle and chapel. The chapel has a small two-light cinquefoiled mullion window on its north wall and an Early English east window of three stepped lights with ogee heads. The chancel has a fine Decorated east window with reticulated tracery, and two two-light Decorated windows with geometrical tracery on its south wall. One further two-light window towards the west end of the nave is a 19th-century facsimile. The gabled south porch contains a tall pointed arched doorway with chamfered moulding, and a slate sundial above its entrance dated 1808.

Internally, the porch roof is plastered over. A 14th-century south doorway with two-centred arch and quarter roll moulding leads into the church, accompanied by a massive medieval studded door with elaborate fleur-de-lys hinges. The internal walls remain unplastered.

A five-bay north arcade features Pevsner A-type piers with moulded segmental arches and capitals displaying high relief carving. The two arches towards the chapel are considerably lower. The eastern arch has a four-centred head. A pointed rubble tower arch exists, but there is no chancel arch. The east and south windows of the chapel and chancel have chamfered rear arches.

A 14th-century piscina with a trefoiled head stands in the chancel, with a simpler two-centred piscina in the chapel. The roofs are plastered over, with only the purlins exposed. Those in the chancel are renewed; those in the nave appear older and include a carved wall-plate. The north aisle displays chamfered and moulded ribs on its north wall, with a carved wall-plate supported on carved wood corbels. The roof of the north chapel has a carved wall-plate exposed on its south side and a carved collar purlin. The rood beam survives over the chapel, carved on its east side.

The furnishings include late 17th- or early 18th-century barley-twist altar rails. A later 17th-century pulpit with five-sided form features arcaded panels and paired Ionic columns at each corner, a carved frieze, and a dentilled cornice. The steps have been renewed, but against the wall behind them stands a piece of carved wood in three panels with a lozenge design. Behind the pews on either side, the walls are lined with 18th-century fielded panels, reportedly salvaged from earlier examples. The present seating is plain and dates from the late 19th or early 20th century. An early 20th-century rood screen has been installed. Apart from towards the rear, the nave floor comprises medieval Barnstaple tiles, with some also present in the aisle. An octagonal 14th-century granite font stands on a circular stem.

Of particular note is a good quality plaster royal coat of arms on the north wall, dated 1664.