Parish Church Of St Peter

Parish Church of St Peter

This is a parish church of Grade I importance, largely dating from the late 15th and early 16th centuries with evidence of considerable rebuilding. The church was substantially restored between 1877 and 1924 by Sabine Baring-Gould, who was both squire and rector during this period.

The building is constructed of stone rubble with a slate roof and features Dartmoor "broad and narrow" quoins. It comprises a nave and chancel, north aisle, west tower, south porch, and a north-west vestry added in the late 19th or early 20th century.

The chancel has been substantially rebuilt and retains evidence of rebuilding in its gabled form. The south side of the chancel shows remains of an old timber wall plate. A small two-light granite east window set high in the east wall is probably early 20th century and sits beneath a square-headed hoodmould. A five-light square-headed Perpendicular granite window on the south side of the chancel has probable 16th-century jambs with two 16th-century mullions, though other mullions appear replaced and the window may have been enlarged in the late 19th century.

The nave retains Dartmoor quoins at its east end only, with a short buttress at the west end. A change in wall plate suggests rebuilding to the east of the porch. An east-facing four-light arched granite Perpendicular window with hoodmould and label stops stands to the east of the porch.

The north aisle is unbuttressed and extends three bays, with a three-light late 15th-century Perpendicular granite east window with hoodmould and label stops, though the east wall has been partially rebuilt. Three two-light square-headed aisle windows are constructed of large irregular pieces of freestone. A three-light late 15th-century west window to the aisle has a hoodmould.

The west tower is small, three stages high, and unbuttressed with battlements. It features Dartmoor quoins and a chamfered plinth, with obelisk corner pinnacles. A small west doorway has hollow chamfered jambs and a basket arch, with a stone relieving arch above. A three-light Perpendicular west window of 19th or 20th-century date has a hoodmould and label stops. The tower stages are marked by moulded strings with no stair turret. The north face has a one-light arched chamfered opening at the bell-ringers' stage, and belfry openings to each face consist of two slightly pointed chamfered lights with slate louvres.

The south porch is a large gabled structure faced in granite ashlar with a chamfered round-headed outer doorway with stops. It contains granite benches and a late 19th or early 20th-century wagon roof with ribs and round bosses, which is unarchaeological in character.

Internally, the church has a three-bay double chamfered north arcade with one bay extending into the chancel, carried on octagonal piers and capitals with alternate faces hollow chamfered. An asymmetrical timber chancel arch has been adjusted to accommodate the narrower width of the chancel on the south side. Both the nave and chancel have ceiled wagon roofs of late 19th or early 20th-century date, unarchaeological with ribs and shallow triangular bosses. The nave has an elliptical roof of similar design and date. The tower arch is unmoulded, and interior walls are plastered.

Furnishings and fittings include a small octagonal font with a deep bowl on an octagonal stem and base, probably of early 16th-century date. Early 16th-century rectangular bench ends survive, with some featuring carvings including a profile head in a medallion, symbols of the Passion, and St Michael weighing souls while vanquishing a dragon. Some 16th-century bench ends in the north chancel chapel include examples with fleur de lys cresting, whilst other carved bench ends date from the late 19th century. Clergy stalls in the chancel were reconstructed in 1904–5, incorporating early 16th-century panels of arabesques and profile heads in medallions, flamboyant blind tracery (probably not of English origin), and some fine poppyheads.

The church is dominated by a complete rood screen with gallery, tabernacle work and cresting. The medieval screen was broken up in 1883 by Baring-Gould's grandfather, but sufficient fragments were rescued by Baring-Gould to permit accurate reconstruction. The work was supervised by Bligh Bond, a cousin of Baring-Gould, between 1889 and 1915. The present screen is fine but shows little evidence of medieval work. Paintings on the gallery frontal are largely by Margaret Rowe, Baring-Gould's daughter. The aisle pier projecting through the screen is encased in carving. The medieval doorways to the loft are blocked, with the lower doorway chamfered and having an ogival head.

A late 19th or early 20th-century drum pulpit on a wine-glass stem is modelled on the reconstructed medieval pulpit at Kenton and was carved by the Pinwill sisters. The pulpit features nodding ogees above paintings of the evangelists. An early 20th-century parclose screen follows a 16th-century model.

Other fittings reflect the taste and travels of Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould. A circa 16th-century timber eagle lectern originates from Brittany. A late 15th or early 16th-century North Flemish triptych, probably by Cornelius Engelbert (1468–1533), has a centre panel of the entombment copied from Quentin Metsys' triptych in Antwerp, with side panels depicting the carrying of the cross and the Ascension. Above the altar is a duplicate painting of Paul Deschwanden's Adoration of the Magi from the church at Freiburg in Switzerland. In a recess in the south chancel wall sits a recumbent effigy of a sleeping child, dated 1879 by Knittel of Freiburg, commemorating Beatrice Baring-Gould.

The north wall of the aisle displays numerous 17th-century slate and brass memorials commemorating members of the Baring-Gould family. Some were rescued from Staverton church in 1877 and introduced at Lew Trenchard. One brass memorial to Margaret Baring-Gould (died 1662) includes the witty epitaph: "Death dartes at all, spares not a Margaret / Although a pearle in Gould most neatly set." Slate memorials against the exterior south wall and one fixed above the porch doorway may also have been introduced from Staverton.

A painting of the crucifixion by Lavidiere appears on the north wall. The south window of the chancel is filled with late 19th-century glass and incorporates four circa early 16th-century evangelists' heads and an Agnus Dei. The east window, in 16th-century style and said to be by Carl de Bouche of Munich, was erected in 1914.

Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould (1834–1924) was squire and parson at Lew Trenchard from 1881 until his death, and is buried in the churchyard. He was a High Churchman, antiquarian, and prolific author of fiction and theological works. He also wrote hymns and collected West Country folksongs. Acting as his own architect, he rebuilt several houses in the parish. His severe criticisms of most contemporary restoration work make his own restoration at Lew Trenchard of particular interest.