Church of St Mary the Virgin

Details

UPOTTERY UPOTTERY ST 20 NW 7/132 Church of St Mary The Virgin 22.2.55 GV II* Parish church. Late C12 origins, largely rebuilt in more than one phase in the C15, various C19 alterations including a major renovation of 1875 - 76. Local stone and flint rubble with original Beerstone detail and replacement Bathstone detail including Hamstone on the upper stage of the tower; slate roof. Plan: nave and lower chancel. The north aisle is not quite full length. West tower, south porch and vestry on south side of the chancel. The chancel has evidence of late C12 work. The tower is early C15, and the north aisle is probably mid -late C15. The vestry was built in 1858. The church was thoroughly renovated 1875 -76. A new ringing chamber was built in 1892 and the organ loft dates from 1892. Exterior: tall west tower of 3 stages with low diagonal buttresses and a semi- octagonal stair turret on the south side. It has an embattled parapet and carved animal and gargoyle waterspouts. Large transomed 2-light belfry windows with Perpendicular tracery and hoodmoulds. Painted clockface on the west side. The west doorway is C15; a Beerstone 2-centred arch with moulded surround including a band of very weathered 4-leaf motifs and a hoodmould with worn carved label stops. Above is a 3-light window with Perpendicular tracery and hoodmould with jewellled label stops. Around the rest of the church all the gables have shaped kneelers and coping and most have apex crosses. The chancel and north aisle have diagonal buttresses. All the windows are C19 replacements with Perpendicular tracery and most have plain hoodmoulds. Gabled porch in centre on south side of the nave. It has a plain 2- centred outer arch of which only the head is ashlar stone. The south doorway is a 2-centred arch with chamfered surround. At the right (east) end of the nave a square-cornered projection is probably the disused rood stair turret. The 1858 vestry is Tudor Gothic in style. Interior: the nave and aisle have C19 boarded wagon roofs, with moulded ribs and purlins and carved bosses. The chancel has a Cl9 common rafter roof of plain arch- braced trusses. The tall C15 tower arch has a moulded surround although most is hidden by the organ loft. The chancel arch is C19; it has a moulded surround and the inner ring springs from corbels carved as a foliage. C15 3-bay Beerstone arcade with moulded piers (Pevsner's type 3) and capitals carved as foliage with shields. There is a fourth arch between the chancel and north chapel which is smaller but similar to the main arcade although it is panelled. On the south side of the chancel there is another arch through to the vestry, a arch built in 1897 in the same style as the arcade. The walls are plastered. Most of the floor is flagged and includes some C17 and C18 graveslabs, particularly in the aisle. The sanctuary floor is a pattern of coloured tiles. The oak panelling around the sanctuary and the oak altar rail date from circa 1920. The stalls, lectern, reading desk and pulpit are all oak, the benches are pine and are simple with a minimum of Gothic enrichment. All are late C19 and early C20. C15 Beerstone font with octagonal bowl carved with quatrefoil panels containing 4- leaf motifs, plain coved based and panelled stem. The only notable memorial is in the north aisle. It is a marble mural monument in memory of John Hutchins (d. 1709) and his wife Katherine (d. 1707) and comprises a rectangular plaque flanked by Corintnian pilasters with an entablature above surmounted by an open pediment and heraldic cartouche and below the apron is a cartouche with a carved skull. In the nave there are 2 lozenge-shaped hatchment boards painted with the Sidmouth arms. C19 stained glass in the chancel windows and eastern windows of the nave and aisle. The west window of the nave contains medallions made up of fragments of ancient stained glass. Source: Major M Leates A Guide to the Parisn Church of St Mary The Virgin, Upottery, Devon

Listing NGR: ST2019807546

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

86687

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Leates, M, A Guide to the Parish Church of St Mary The Virgin Upottery Devon, ()

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