Church Of St Nectan

Church of St Nectan

This is an Anglican parish church, probably originally a chapel of the Church of St Nectan of Hartland established before the Norman Conquest. The building was largely rebuilt in 1508, the tower was completely rebuilt in 1731, and the church underwent substantial restoration in 1883–84, with some further work in the early 20th century.

The church is constructed of random, coursed and squared local rubble with gabled slate roofs. The porch has a concrete coping, and the tower is embattled. Some render remains on the south face of the nave and on the porch.

The plan of the nave and chancel is probably pre-Conquest, though little of the fabric above ground level dates from this period. The transepts were probably added around 1508 during the major rebuild. The west tower dates from 1731, and the south porch probably also dates from the 18th century. A lean-to north vestry was added in 1904.

The exterior features a squat square embattled three-stage tower with semi-circular headed bell-chamber windows, probably reused 16th-century material. There is a large weathered offset at plinth level, with smaller offsets between the first and second stages and between the second and third stages. The west end has a small window with a four-centred arch head, now fitted with a 20th-century four-pane casement. The nave has a single south window with a three-centred arch head, granite label and jambs, with a 20th-century Gothick casement inserted in place of earlier tracery. The south transept has a simple semi-circular headed window with two-light granite tracery, probably renewed in 1897 when the present stained glass was inserted. The east face of this transept has a 20th-century nine-pane casement in a hollow-moulded stone surround with concrete cill. The chancel has a semi-circular headed east window rising to a slight point at the apex, with a concrete label renewed in the late 20th century.

The gabled south porch has a plain outer door opening with rubble jambs. Inside are stone benches on a flagstone floor. The inner doorway is set in a 16th-century moulded stone frame.

Interior features include plastered walls on flagstone floors. Towards the east end is a larger number of good 17th and 18th-century memorial slabs inset into the floor. Under the tower is a late 19th-century tile pavement.

The nave and chancel are continuous under a 16th-century wagon roof with moulded ribs and carved bosses. Five bosses towards the east end retain gilding and colouring. Above each transept arch is a section of richly carved cornice, also with surviving colouring and gilding. The plaster between the ribs was replaced during the 19th-century restoration with tongue-and-groove board. The transepts are separated from the nave by crude arches with squared rubble jambs and voussoirs. A tall semi-circular tower arch has rubble jambs and voussoirs. The transepts have 19th-century wagon roofs with tongue-and-groove board, though the wall plates are earlier, probably 16th-century. A late 19th-century ringing-chamber floor lies under the tower.

The rood screen is a composite structure possibly as early as the early 14th century. It is square-headed with eight flights divided by thin shafts of crude workmanship. A broad central opening accommodates missing doors. The lower panels have been embellished with three carved 15th-century bench ends. The cornice of the screen appears to have been added in the 16th century, consisting of three richly carved friezes set one above the other. The screen probably stands eastward of its original position.

A circular font sits on an 11th-century circular plinth and is plain without carving. A polygonal pulpit is made up of 16th-century carved panels reassembled in the 18th century and repaired in the 19th century with a new base and steps. The 18th-century pulpit cornice is black-painted with gilded lettering reading "Where there is no Bishop the people perish Prov XXIX V 18". The reader and bench are assembled from pieces of 15th-century carved bench ends with poppyheads and some 16th or early 17th-century carved panels with semi-circular heads. The west end of the nave has three 15th or 16th-century pews. A carved Jacobean lectern is also present. Simple pews probably date from the 1888 restoration, as do the altar rails and altar table. Decalogue plaques were painted by the Reverend Erisey John Porter, vicar, in 1903, and feature large figures of Christ and Mary Magdalene. Three late 19th-century oil lamps are displayed. The east window depicts the Crucifixion in 14th-century style and dates to 1925. The north transept window dates to 1929. The fine south transept window of 1897 shows the Nativity.

The tower contains six bells, at least two of which date from the 18th century.

R. S. Hawker, the Cornish poet and antiquary, was curate here for 30 years and held the living in conjunction with Morwenstow from 1851.