Church Of St James

Church of St James

A redundant parish church at Luffincott, with some 15th-century features but largely rebuilt in the late 18th century and renovated in the 20th century. The church is constructed from stone rubble with granite and polyphant dressings, topped with a slate roof featuring 19th-century crested ridge tiles.

The building is exceptionally small, comprising a west tower, nave and chancel with no internal or external division, and a south-west porch. Whilst the overall dimensions may date from the 13th century, the extant fabric retains some late 15th-century Perpendicular features. However, the church was thoroughly rebuilt in the late 18th century in a plain Gothic style, reusing old masonry—datestones of 1761 and 1791 confirm this campaign. There was modest 19th-century restoration and rebuilding of the east wall, possibly by J.P. St Aubyn, followed by 20th-century renovations. The masonry and plinth suggest a long history of successive rebuilding.

The east end is gabled with bargeboards covered by decoratively-cut slates. It features a deeply recessed 3-light granite Perpendicular window with cusped lights, heavily-moulded architrave, hoodmould and label stops. The south side of the nave displays a datestone of 1761 and two late 15th-century 2-light square-headed granite windows with cusped lights, hoodmoulds and label stops. The north side is remarkable for retaining a foliage-carved late 15th-century wallplate (probably originally positioned inside the church) but having its medieval windows replaced with two 24-pane sashes, likely dating from 1761 or earlier in the 18th century. These sashes have heavy glazing bars moulded with an ovolo profile to the interior.

The west tower is small and unbuttressed, comprising two stages with a battlemented parapet and obelisk pinnacles on square bases with obelisk finials. Notably, it is not tied in to the nave masonry. A slate on the south side reads: "This Tow'r was Rebuilt by Richard Sillifant Mason in 1791. John Venner. Ch. Warden. Edmund Spetigue. Peek. John Trible Worden." Pevsner notes that without this inscription the tower's style would not reveal its date. The west face has a cinquefoil-headed 1-light chamfered window below a cambered granite hoodmould, with a brick arch above. The north and south faces have 2-light square-headed timber belfry windows with slate louvres and flat stone arches.

The gabled south porch has an unmoulded round-headed outer doorway with stone voussoirs springing from plain imposts. The porch roof was plastered in the 20th century. The inner doorway is moulded in polyphant with a segmental head.

Interior

The walls are rendered. A semi-circular tower arch, probably of 18th-century date, connects the tower to the nave. There is no chancel arch. A boarded waggon roof of circa late 15th-century date features carved bosses and chamfered ribs carved with flowers; some ancient colour survives. The moulded wallplates are either late 19th or 20th-century replacements, probably contemporary with metal ties. The east end fittings have been removed.

A plain octagonal granite font on an octagonal stem may be medieval. A set of plain 19th-century benches with rectangular ends furnishes the church. Several 17th-century ledger stones pave the nave. The south-west door is probably early 18th-century, with four fielded panels and massive hinges with gudgeon hooks. The church is said to have retained pre-Reformation bells.

Setting and Historical Significance

Access to the church is through the farmyard of Luffincott Barton, with which it forms an attractive architectural group alongside associated farm buildings. The 18th-century rebuilding of the church and its sash windows are of considerable historic interest in Devon, where 18th-century renovations have typically been obscured by mid to late 19th-century restoration schemes.