Church of St Mary

Details

928/1/104 HIGH STREET
07-JAN-52 (North side)
CHURCH OF ST MARY

GV I

Revision Number: 2

HIGH STREET
1.
5180
(North Side)
Church of St Mary
SX 8060 SW 1/104 7.1.52.
A
2.
Formerly the Benedictine Priory Church of St Mary. The conventual buildings lay
on the north side of the church (see Guildhall, Guildhall Yard). The town had the
use of the building, and in 1432 on agreement was reached between Prior Stone and
Mayor John Burhed for a complete rebuilding of the fabric, for which Bishop Lacy
granted an indulgence. Nave, 1432-44; chancel, 1445-48; tower, 1449-59; screen
1459-60. The tower was built to the designs of master mason Roger Crowden, who
may have been responsible for the work as a whole. 4 bay nave with aisles (outer
north aisle added circa 1824 and remodelled circa 1869). 2 bay chancel with rood
stair turret on north side (rood loft removed circa 1862 by Sir Gilbert Scott) and
chancel aisle-chapels. Perpendicular style. Welsh slate roof with coped gables.
Random Devonian limestone rubble with red sandstone dressings. The tower is entirely
of red sandstone from Stoke Gabriel. Tower and chancel with set-back buttresses;
nave and porch with diagonal buttresses. Crenellated aisles and chancel in white
limestone with gargoyles and pinnacles. The 3 stage west tower was modelled on
towers at Ashburton and Tavistock by the same minster unison, together with those
at Buckland Brewer and Callington (Cornwall). The south (street) front of the truer
of symmetrical composition with buttresses flanking a central stair turret. In a
niche of the turret is a bearded, mitred head with the inscription "I made this
tore", perhaps referring to Bishop Lacey, whose device, a knot, also appears on
the screen inside. The tower is capped by a crenellated parapet and large, polygonal
pinnacles. Aisles with 4 light windows with panel tracery; 6 light east window
by Scott. Gabled south porch with battlements and pinnacles; enriched, arched doorways
with C16 inner door decorated in Early Renaissance manner; ceiling with ribs and
bosses. Interior with ceiled wagon-roofs with bosses in nave and chancel. Fine
stone screen with 8 narrow, 2-light panels plus 2 for the doors to the nave; the
sections separating the chancel chapels from the nave have 3 broader panels with
depressed ogee arches, of which the middle ones serve as entrances; coved frieze
and thin cornice. C15 octagonal front with quatrefoil panels. Stone pulpit with
2 tiers of cusped blank arches. Monument to Walter Smith (died 1555) in south chancel
aisle.




------------------------------------------------------------------------------~


Listing NGR: SX8021960472

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

426971

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.