Parish Church of St Martin

Details

LISKEARD

SX2564 CHURCH STREET NORTH 979-1/5/62 (South side) 23/09/50 Parish Church of St Martin

GV II*

Parish church. Some reused Norman fragments, mostly C15 south chapel from 1428, south chancel aisle of 1430, additions to north from 1477, Norman tower repaired in 1675 of which the doorway and some Norman fragments are incorporated into the present 1903 tower by John Sampson of Liskeard; restored 1879 and 1890. Slatestone rubble walls, some granite ashlar, granite and freestone dressings; dry Delabole slate roofs behind embattled parapets. Large complex plan: 5-bay nave, 3-bay choir chancel, west tower, north aisle with chantry chapel projections south aisle, 3-bay Lady Chapel, north and south porches and two C20 vestries. 3-stage embattled tower with offset corner buttresses has 3-centred arched doorway inscribed 1627, otherwise 1903 with Perpendicular-style features including large west window and paired louvred bell-stage windows with linked hoodmoulds under a machicolated parapet cornice. Overall the church is 8 bays plus tower and except for C19 east windows to chancel and south aisle the windows are C15, most with original outer frame but with mullions and tracery partly or wholly replaced in the C19. There are 13 consecration crosses in various positions to north and south aisles and a sundial to east side of porch dated 1779. South elevation has weathered buttresses dividing the bays with angle buttresses at the corners. 2-storey porch has 4-centred arched doorway with quatrefoils to the spandrels; 2-light cinquefoil-headed window over which is flanked by empty statue niches but has smaller niche with statue above. North elevation is articulated by having alternate projecting bays with 4-light traceried windows to each bay. North porch has 4-centred arched doorway with similar 4-light windows over. INTERIOR: large lofty interior has plastered or lime-washed walls; C15 tall standard A (Pevsner) granite arcades with 4-centred arches: 5 bays flanking the nave; 2 bays flanking the choir and 3 bays between south aisle and the Lady Chapel. Arches to choir and east end of south aisle spring from moulded responds over reset carved Norman heads. C15 stone vaults to chantry chapels and chamfered rear arches to all windows. C19 waggon roofs. Some carved fragments of C15 waggon roofs are displayed in the Lady Chapel. Fittings: Norman font bowl set in E wall as stoup; C15 piscina to S aisle; C16 piscina to N aisle (E end); C16 font with large Gothic-style font cover of 1917; beautifully carved octagonal oak pulpit of 1636 by Peter Short; GR coat of arms 1747; nowy-headed painted panels with names of benefactors to N porch; pine pews of 1856; early C20 Gothic-style choir stalls, memorial parclose screens 1897; memorial benches with ends carved in C16 style to Lady Chapel; altar by J Sampson with top of oak from Mount Hebron and front panels of olive wood from Gethsemane; freestone reredos with blind traceried panels and memorial windows with coloured glass to E end and to S except for one and to W end. Monuments include: resited chest tomb lid under reredos to Thomas Johnson d.1666 aged 57; monument to Dorothy, wife of Richard Roberts, Mayor of Liskeard, d.1697; marble, slate and freestone aedicule with crest to S wall of Lady Chapel to John Trehawk, d.1710 aged 32 and several wall monuments to chantry chapels including marble by Captain Thomas Byam Martin and officers of HMS Implacable to the memory of Lieutenant Joseph Hawkey, d.1809 aged 23; marble to Sophia Badley, d.1839, by Crocker of Plymouth; marble to John Marke of Woodhill Manor (qv), d.1823 aged 63 and to N wall a marble to Sedly Bastard Marke, son of John Marke, d.1855 aged 19. Except for Truro Cathedral one of the 3 largest churches in Cornwall, distinguished by its many chantry chapels erected at the expense of the various town guilds. (Kelly's Directory of Cornwall: Kelly: 1923-: 197; The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Cornwall: London: 1951-1970: 103-4).

Listing NGR: SX2540564405

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

382155

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds, (1970), 103-4
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Cornwall, (1951), 103-4
Kellys Directory in Cornwall, (1923), 197

End of official list entry

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