Church of Holy Cross is a Grade II* listed building in the West Devon local planning authority area, England. First listed on 22 February 1967. A Medieval Church.
Church of Holy Cross
- WRENN ID
- high-sill-harvest
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- West Devon
- Constituency
- Central Devon MP: Sir Mel Stride (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 22 February 1967
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of Holy Cross, Highampton
- OS grid reference
- SS 489 046
- Coordinates
- 50.82131, -4.14579
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of Holy Cross is a parish church with origins dating back to the 12th century. It features a tower from the late 15th century, while the rest of the church was rebuilt in 1837 and restored in 1876. The structure has coursed stone rubble walls, with some granite used in the tower, and a gable-ended slate roof. The layout includes a nave, chancel, north aisle, west tower, south porch, and a vestry at the east end of the aisle. The only remnants of the 12th-century church are the south doorway and the Norman font.
The exterior showcases a three-stage west tower with a chamfered plinth and stringcourses, topped with battlements and crocketted pinnacles. The belfry features two-light, four-centred head openings. The granite west doorway has a two-centred head with hollow and roll moulding, while the west window is a restored three-light Perpendicular-style design. The north aisle contains two three-light windows with cinquefoiled heads, and the leanto vestry at the east end of the aisle incorporates a 17th-century three-light moulded granite mullion window. The east window is a three-light design with early English style tracery, and the south side has two cinquefoiled head windows, one being a one-light and the other a three-light. The one-storey gabled south porch features a two-centred arch.
Inside, the church has a notable 12th-century south doorway with a simple Norman arch supported by shafts with cushion capitals. The porch contains old carved wall-plates. The aisle is separated from the nave by two Doric columns that support a flat plastered lintel. The 12th-century font bowl is decorated with stars, crosses, and circles, though the base may have been renewed. A tower screen commemorates the 1897 Jubilee. The wagon roofs of the nave and chancel may incorporate some old timbers.
Local climate
Church of Holy Cross sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,020 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 81% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 77% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 24 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 75% of listed buildings. Of these, 10 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
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