Church of St Eustachius

A parish church built in the 14th and 15th centuries on earlier foundations, substantially restored in 1844–45 by architect John Hayward. The building is constructed of Hurdwick stone with granite or elvan stone dressings, slate roofing, and lead flashings. The early church columns are of green elvan stone, while those in the 15th-century clothworkers aisle are of Dartmoor granite. Roofs throughout feature timber ribs and bosses. Rainwater goods are cast iron and lead.

Plan and Exterior

The church comprises a five-bay nave with north and south aisles, a three-bay chancel with north and south chapels, and an additional five-bay south aisle with a porch at the west end. A three-stage west tower rises above.

The aisles are lit by large four-light windows with simple Perpendicular tracery, separated by buttresses with offsets. The east end displays a row of three gables, each with five-light windows. Mid-19th-century gabled vestries of lower height occupy the south-east corner. The north end of the clothworkers aisle has an opening reduced to two lights, while a mid-19th-century projection in the east of the north aisle housed an organ. A small round-arched stoup of 14th-century date appears in the wall at the west end of the north aisle.

The gabled south porch is topped by a mid-19th-century sundial above a four-centred arch door with quatrefoils in the spandrels.

The west tower has setback B-type buttresses. Door and window openings feature double rows of round arches over four-centred heads. A heavy moulded band encircles the tower at mid-door height, above a plinth. The west face displays a large four-light window above the door. Upper levels carry a clock face on each side, accompanied by traceried openings and ventilators. The tower top is finished with crenellated parapets and tall pinnacles to all four corners with square crockets. The hopper heads to the tower are dated 1661.

Interior

The nave and aisles feature tall, slender arcades with four-centred moulded arches carrying 15th-century carved bosses to the wagon roofs. One roof boss displays the regional motif of three hares. The clothworkers aisle is more elaborately detailed with guild-related features.

The nave floor is covered with stone flags and setts and incorporates decorative cast-iron vents. The chapels and baptistry have tiled floors. The vestries contain wood block flooring and a 19th-century chimneypiece. Mid-19th-century pews feature elaborately carved ends, including one in the south aisle with a tiny ivory church mouse incorporated within it.

Remains said to be those of Ordulf, founder of Tavistock Abbey (died 1015), are interred here. An inscribed stone floor slab at the south end of the nave reads "ORDULF / FOUNDER OF TAVISTOCK ABBEY / 981". A further slab to the left commemorates past abbots of Tavistock Abbey whose remains were reinterred here in 2000.

The baptistry near the south door contains a 15th-century octagonal font with shields in quatrefoils and a 14th-century oak iron-bound wagon chest of trapezoid shape. The nave contains a carved Caen stone pulpit dated 1846. An organ and case of 1845 by J.W. Walker and Sons of London stands in the north aisle, with carved statues added in 1879. The pipes and mechanisms are contained behind the case. A sealed ogee-arched recess in the north wall, probably associated with a 14th-century chapel to John Dabernon and his wife, stands to the left of the organ case. A 19th-century decorative screen separates the nave from the west tower, with narrow doors on each side accessing stairs to the aisle roofs.

The west tower contains a narrow stone winder stair serving a ringing chamber, bell chamber, belfry and roof, with oak doors throughout. The church bells include eight of 18th-century date, recast in 1925, and at least one bell by Thomas Mears of London Foundry (Whitechapel) of the late 18th or early 19th century. The bell chamber houses an automated winding and ringing mechanism, partly contained in a glazed timber compartment.

Stained Glass

The church contains a substantial collection of 19th-century stained glass. The north aisle east window (1876) is by Morris & Co. and features evangelists, prophets, scenes from the life of Christ, and angels playing musical instruments. An early door, probably of 14th-century date, is positioned below and to the right. The north aisle windows include work by Kempe Studios, Fouracres of Plymouth, and Dixon (the Carpenter window). South aisle windows are by William Wailes and Co. (the Terrell window), Ward and Hughes, and Fouracres. The clothworkers aisle east window is by Powell, with further windows by Mayer of Munich, Bacon, and Clayton and Bell. The central east window of 1949 is by James Powell of Whitefriars Glass Company, flanked by commandment tablets in highly decorated Caen stone niches. Other chancel windows are by Fouracres. The oldest window, dating from the 1830s and located in the west tower, is by Ward and Hughes.

Monuments

The north chapel contains a large standing wall-monument to John Fytz (died 1590) and his wife and son (died 1605), featuring recumbent effigies on a tomb chest behind columns, with the son kneeling behind. The south chapel wall displays an alabaster monument to John Glanville (died 1600) and his wife. Glanville lies half-reclining in a tomb chest with his wife and five children kneeling in front—the children's heads have been removed. Numerous memorial tablets are distributed throughout the church and exterior, including one above the south door to B. Carpenter (died 1782) and his family.