Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin

Details

SILVERTON SILVERTON SS 90 SE 7/262 - Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin 5.4.66 GV I Parish church. C15, C16 and C17: north aisle added circa 1478 (its erection mentioned in the will of John Suffmore, the rector); north chancel chapel early C16 rebus of Lawrence Dobel, (rector 1519-31) carved in 1 of the capitals; the church was restored and the chancel and the 2 westernmost bays rebuilt, 1860-3, by Edward Ashworth; restored in 1880, again by Ashworth. Coursed rubble volcanic trap, with Bath stone. West tower, nave, north and south aisles, chancel, north chancel chapel, south-east vestry, south porch. West tower: 2 stages, battlemented with corner pinnacles, buttresses diagonal to north-west and south-west clasping to north-east and south-east, all with 3 off-sets. Polygonal stair turret to north lit by 6 tiny windows, the lower of which is pointed. 2-light belfry opening to all sides, that on the south side with another 2-light window below to light ringing chamber. 3-light west window, Perpendicular, largely renewed; west doorway surround appears to be C20, reconstituted stone. South aisle: 4 bays; the porch occupies the westernmost bay into which it is bonded, the bay itself recessed a little from the plane of the aisle, with a 4-light square- headed window above the porch. Conventional Perpendicular west window. It all looks late C15 or early C16; both the inner and outer doorways, moulded, look right for this date, along with the barrel vault to the porch, the ribs resting on moulded bell capitals, unless the peculiarities are a result of Ashworth's modifications. The other 3 windows of the aisle and the east window, Perpendicular, 4-lights, divided by slender buttresses with 3 off-sets; polygonal stair turret to former screen, and aisle roof. Battlemented throughout. Clear masonry Joint between aisle and nave. Chancel: 2-light window to north and south, 3-light east window, all by Ashworth, together with the battlemented south-east vestry with 2-light square-headed window to south, and priest's door to east. North aisle: 4 bays, as south. North chancel chapel: clear masonry joint between this and the aisle from which it projects a little; buttressed, battlemented with cornice moulding bearing fleurons. Perpendicular east window; C19 window to north. Interior: nave of 4 bays, tall piers with wavy moulding, all except 2 capitals with foliage, the exceptions being larger with shield-bearing angels. The 2 west piers were rebuilt by Ashworth, apparently re-using the detailed stone. Simple chamfered tower arch; chancel arch with detached shafts large bases and capitals; windows with nook shafts; wagon roof to nave repaired and renewed by Ashworth, who retained the odd disjuncture of the ribs above the position of the former screen; open wagon roof to chancel (all 1860s); flat ribbed roof to north-east chapel; ceiled roofs to aisles. 1 door to screen (ground floor) survives, that above blocked. Arches into north east chapel (from aisle and chancel) with panelled soffits and responds, that to the chancel with detached shafts in addition. Furnishings: fragment of screen wainscotting now in north east chapel. West gallery, of 2 builds: 4 Doric columns with pronounced entasis support an ovolo moulded bressumer; this all looks a century earlier than the frontal, dated 1734, with 10 panels setting out various parish charities, each pair divided by pilasters, with moulded rail, and dentilled base. Stone font, 1834; stone pulpit, 1863. Glass: east by Ward and Hughes (1880); north aisle (nv) by Warrington, signed (1857). References: N Pevsner, SD, p263; B Cresswell, Deanery of Cullompton, typescript in West Country Studies Library; referred to by Bond in Trans.Devonshire Assoc. (1903), 485-6. Devon C19 Churches Project.

Listing NGR: SS9567102794

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

95447

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Cresswell, B F, Notes on Devon Churches in the Deanery of Cullompton, (1920)
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: South Devon, (1952), 263
Transactions of the Devonshire Association in Transactions of the Devonshire Association, (1903), 485-486

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