Church Of St Mary And St Benedict

Church of St. Mary and St. Benedict, Buckland Brewer

An Anglican parish church of 15th-century date, consisting of a chancel with north chapel, nave with south aisle and porch, and west tower. The church was heavily restored by S. Hooper of Hatherleigh in 1878–80. The building is constructed of squared and coursed slatestone, with ashlar to the tower, and features stone-coped and gabled slate roofs.

The exterior of the south aisle has an attached late 19th-century passage with crenellated wall leading to a parish schoolroom, which is of 15th-century date and was restored in 1880. This schoolroom has a Perpendicular-style east window of 1880 and a two-bay south front with a pointed-arched doorway of 1880 and two 15th-century two-light cinquefoiled windows. The rest of the church's fenestration dates from 1878–80. The two-bay chancel and two-bay north wall of the nave have Decorated-style windows. The four-bay south aisle has Decorated-style windows with a string course continued above a 16th-century chamfered pointed-arched priest's door.

The 15th-century gabled porch contains an 18th-century sundial above a 15th-century doorway with shallow-arched moulded granite architrave. Inside the porch is a medieval stoup and image niche above a Norman doorway of circa 1200. This doorway has a round arch of three orders, decorated with beakhead and chevron ornament; the imposts are carved with interlaced round arches and volute capitals to engaged columns.

The three-stage 15th-century west tower has full-height offset angle buttresses and string courses. Above a hood mould is a plain granite three-light 15th-century Perpendicular window with panel tracery. A pointed-arched doorway is set in a square-headed architrave, with label moulds over a round-arched light and cinquefoiled image niche to the south. The belfry windows are three-light, shallow-arched and square-headed, with crenellated louvres. The crenellated parapet has 19th-century crocketed pinnacles.

The interior features two late 19th-century piscinae, one with part of a 14th-century cusped head, and a late 19th-century panelled reredos. The chancel and nave have late 19th-century boarded waggon roofs and arch-braced roofs respectively, as does the south aisle. A 14th-century two-bay arcade has double-chamfered arches and a central octagonal pier with chamfered impost. The late 19th-century chancel arch is supported by a 15th-century five-bay arcade with pointed moulded arches set on round piers with bell capitals. The south-east door of the south aisle has a moulded stone architrave carved with decoration of leaves, branches and shields.

The fittings include late 19th-century choir stalls, benches, pulpit, lectern and tower screen. An early 18th-century gadrooned and urn-shaped pulpit is also present.

The church contains several monuments. The south aisle has tablets to William Radford Caddy, a midshipman who died in 1823, and John Caddy, who died in 1822. The nave contains a monument to Edward Lee of Orleigh, who died in 1819, executed by Richards of Exeter and featuring a weeping woman and urn set on a pyramid-shaped mount; a swag-shaped tablet to Peter Pasmore, who died in 1808; and a brass to the bellfounder John William Taylor, who died in 1906.

The north chapel contains a group of fine monuments. A memorial to Anthony Dennis, who died in 1643, has three heraldic cartouches and a nowy-headed pediment above kneeling figures flanked by Ionic columns, with an informal group of children below. A monument to Philip Venning, who died in 1658 at the age of six, is of coloured marble with black slate inscriptions, featuring an obelisk set in a broken scrolled pediment above a keyed roundel framing a demi-figure. A particularly fine Baroque monument to John and Mary Davie (who died in 1710 and 1709 respectively) has angels and flaming urns surmounting a nowy-headed pediment with heraldic achievement above an architectural frame with Corinthian columns and standing angels. The inscription is surrounded by foliage, cherubs' heads and skulls' heads, with acanthus-leaf brackets flanking consoles and a lower inscription set in a cartouche.