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Books > Devon Churches Photographic Memories
Abbotsham, Church, south side 1890 (ref. 24838) | According to an inscription on
one of the octagonal piers, the
north aisle was built in 1593,
although a church must have
existed here much earlier as
the font is 13th-century. The
chancel was rebuilt in 1865.
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Barnstaple, Parish Church 1919 (ref. 69319) | St Peter's was consecrated in 1318 by Bishop Stapleton. Its unusual lead-covered octagonal broach spire was
erected in 1389 and, despite restoration in the 17th century, is now slightly twisted. 17th-century decorated floor
tiles, made in Barnstaple, can still be seen around the pulpit.
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Bideford, St Peter's Church 1907 (ref. 59283) | The Church of St Paul
has a 15th-century stone
pulpit and an Elizabethan
communion table. It was
restored in 1866-7 by
Sir George Gilbert Scott,
the populariser of High
Victorian Gothic who
also designed the Albert
Memorial and St Pancras
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Bishopsteignton, Church interior 1890 (ref. 26051) | The east window, presented by Rev G S Hele in the 19th century, shows St John the Baptist, the emblems of the
four evangelists, and twelve small scenes depicting portions of the litany. Over the old south doorway is one of the
finest tympanums in Devon, the only one to show the adoration of the Magi.
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Broadwoodwidger, the Church c1950 (ref. B388301) | Standing above the valley of the River Wolf, the Church of St Nicholas is first recorded in 1288 when a Parochial
Quota of £13 was paid to the Deanery of Tavistock. The chancel arch and font date from this time, the tower is
late 14th-century and the south aisle was added during a restoration of 1531. In 1965 the nave roof succumbed
to the ravages of Death Watch Beetle and collapsed, necessitating the raising of £10,000 for repairs.
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Colyton, Church 1907 (ref. 58037) | There is thought to have been a Saxon church on this site before
AD700, and the Norman structure, dedicated to St Andrew, is built on
Saxon foundations. The unusual octagonal lantern was installed in the
15th century when Colyton was one of the three richest wool towns in
Devon. The clock was made in 1710 by Lewis Pridham of Crediton. The
north aisle was enlarged in 1888.
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Countisbury, Church 1907 (ref. 59407) | St John the Baptist stands high above the Bristol Channel on windswept Countisbury Common. The only remnant
of the original medieval church is a carved bench end with a crowned swan and arms. The nave was rebuilt in
1716, the tower in 1835, and the arcade in 1846.
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Dittisham, the Church c1960 (ref. D34015) | How many people lie buried in the average churchyard? Well, in the case of St George's it has been calculated
that 18,000 bodies have been interred here since 1180. The nave and chancel were rebuilt in 1328-33 and the
tower is older.
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Exeter, the Cathedral, the Nave looking east 1896 (ref. 37998) | The ribbed vaulting of the 300-foot nave is unique in England. It was completed by Bishop Grandison and rests on
blue-grey columns of Purbeck marble. On either side of the golden gates in the Great Screen are altars to Blessed
Mary and St Nicholas. The organ above was built in 1665.
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Ilsington, the Village and Church c1965 (ref. I8009) | The Church of St Michael was built in the 14th century and enlarged in the 15th century. It has a 16th-century
rood screen and a clergy stall of carved medieval bench-ends. The latter are decorated with the only carved
poppy-heads in Devon. In 1586 the Elizabethan dramatist John Ford was baptised here.
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Mortehoe, the Church of St Mary Magdalene, interior 1935 (ref. 87131) | The enormous mosaic above the chancel arch was created in 1905 in memory of the churchwarden's wife. The
churchwarden in question must have been a wealthy man, for the mosaic was designed by the Oxford Professor of
Art Selwyn Image and made by the same craftsmen responsible for the mosaics in St Paul's Cathedral.
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Newton Abbot, St Paul's Church 1890 (ref. 25460) | St Paul's was built in the Early English style by the Earl of Devon in 1861. The font was donated by the Bishop
of Exeter and the lectern by local railway workers. It was damaged in a German bombing raid in May 1942 and
subsequently renovated.
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North Bovey, Church interior 1907 (ref. 58513) | The wagon roof has wooden
bosses that are possibly
13th-century. The designs
of these bosses include
the Tinners' Rabbits -
three rabbits sharing only
three ears. This was the
alchemical symbol for tin
and is also said to represent
the Holy Trinity.
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Northam, Church 1919 (ref. 69346) | The conspicuous tower of
St Margaret's has long
been used as a landmark
by mariners negotiating
Bideford Bar at the entrance
to the Torridge estuary.
Until 1844 the tower was
rendered and whitewashed
to make it more visible, but
Rev J H Gosset removed
the rendering during
his restoration, which
presumably did little to
endear him to the maritime
portion of his flock.
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Northam, Church 1890 (ref. 24833) | In 1645 St Michael's suffered
an unusual fate for a church.
Following Fairfax's rout of
the royalist forces under Sir
Ralph Hopton, the church
was being used as a magazine
and prison. Whether by
accident or design is unclear,
but 80 barrels of gunpowder
exploded, taking around 200
men into the hereafter. The
church was rebuilt in 1651
and the tower and spire added
in 1828.
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Paignton, Church Screen 1889 (ref. 21536) | This late 15th-century chantry screen is a monument to the Kirkham family, whose tombs lie underneath the two
ornate arches. Although damaged by the less than caring attentions of human hands in past centuries, it remains
one of the finest examples of its type in the country.
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Parkham, the Village c1955 (ref. P161005) | St James has a fine late-Norman south doorway and font. The rest of the church is 15th-century with early 16th-
century aisles - the north one was built by the Risdons of Bableigh, and the south by the Giffards of Halsbury.
The arcades are of Lundy granite; brought down from the top of Lundy island, the stone underwent a fifteen mile
passage by sea before the masons could use it.
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Pilton West, Church and Old Village c1940 (ref. P52008) | St Mary's was originally part of a Benedictine Priory, one of several founded by King Athelstan. The priory went
the same way as many others at the dissolution of the monasteries in 1533 but St Mary's, dedicated by Bishop
Bronescombe in 1259, was spared.
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Plymouth, St Andrew's Church 1889 (ref. 22399) | Construction of St Andrew's started in 1370 and the tower was built by
Thomas Yogge in 1481. Its status as the mother church of Plymouth
could not protect it from the Luftwaffe and in 1941 it was reduced to
a shell. Restoration started in 1949 and St Andrew's was eventually
reconsecrated in 1957. | Add your own Memory
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Plymouth, St Andrew's Cross 1900 (ref. 45862) | While St Andrew's was
still a smoking ruin,
someone wrote the word
Resurgam (Latin for 'I
will rise again') above the
door of the north porch
(left), and ever since
it has been known as
the Resurgam Door. St
Andrew's Cross (behind
the policeman) was also
destroyed in the Blitz,
and all that remains is the
copper cross from the
top, now displayed in the
north aisle.
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