Chapel Of St Mary Including Boundary Walls Adjoining To North West

SX 6493-6593 SOUTH TAWTON SOUTH ZEAL

8/234 Chapel of St Mary including 22.2.67 boundary walls adjoining to north- west GV II*

Chapel of Ease. Dated 1713 but probably C15 or C15 origins, thoroughly renovated in 1877. Coursed blocks of granite ashlar on granite boulder footings, granite ashlar detail; slate roof. Plan: small chapel built on a north-west south-east axis. Simple unaisled structure, rectangular in plan with a bellcote over the north-west gable. Exterior: doorway in centre of north-west end wall; a 2-centred, almost round- headed, arch with chamfered surround. Directly above a painted C19 olockface. On the gable here is the pretty bellcote, the only feature left which suggests a date earlier than 1713. Built of granite ashlar it has a crenellated parapet with corner pinnacles. Each side is a 2-bay arcade of low segmental arches and the corners are carved like minature set back buttresses with weathered coping. Both gable ends have shaped kneelers and coping. Both sides have 2-window fronts of C19 replacement 2-light windows; flat-topped, pointed arch heads and sunken spandrels. Taller 3- light version on south-east end is original. Above it a plaque dated 1713 and above that another dated 1877. Interior is wholly the result of the C19 refurbishment; arch-braced truss roof and plain pine fittings and furniture. A narrow plot of ground at the north-west end is enclosed by C19 low rubble walls with rusticated granite coping with iron railings and twisted standards set into the top. Gateway has granite ashlar posts. Some of the larger boulders in the footings are said to be a type of granite not found locally and therefore some religious, even pre-Christian, significance has been attributed to them. According to the parish churchwardens accounts the place was used as a school in 1773. The chapel occupies a prominent central position in South Zeal which is a special settlement being one of the few medieval boroughs in Devon where a significant number of its late-medieval houses survive to a greater or lesser extent. Source: Devon SMR

Listing NGR: SX6508093580