Church of St George

Details

MONKLEIGH SS4520 17/140 Church of St. George 20.2.58 GV. I Church. Early C15; late C15 south aisle; restored 1862-3. Coursed slatestone rubble; restored in late C19 with squared and coursed slatestone; stone-coped gabled stone slate roof. Plan of chancel, nave with south aisle, south-east chapel and porch, and west tower. East gable of chancel has trefoiled lancet set over 3-light Perpendicular window (rebuilt 1897) with panel tracery; mid C19 vestry to north with pointed-arched doorway and Tudor-style window; hood mould with rosette-carved stops over 4-light Perpendicular window with Y-tracery and some C19 restoration. 5-bay south aisle wall has similar hood moulds over 3 Perpendicular 3-light windows, with intersecting depressed arches to south-east chapel, and plain hood moulds over 2 Perpendicular 3-light windows with reticulated tracery flanking porch; C15 chamfered and pointed-arched priest's door to east. C15 gabled south porch: C19 sundial above moulded granite doorway; niche for statue above similar inner doorway which has C19 door with C15 decoratively-carved lock. Mid/late C19 Perpendicular-style north window to north transept. Two-bay north aisle of nave has hood moulds over 3-liht Perpendicular windows with panel tracery, and quatrefoil to head of east window; these windows flank blocked doorway. Three-stage west tower, with offset setback corner buttresses and string courses; mid C19 Perpendicular-style 3-light windows over C15 doorway with moulded-arched architrave and ancient studded plank door; label moulds over second-stage trefoil-headed windows; hood moulds over 2-light trefoil-headed belfry windows with Y-tracery; canted stair turret with round-arched lights to north; crenellated parapet with weathered crocketed pinnacles. Interior: mid C19 tiled floor to sanctuary floor; C15-C17 Barnstaple tiles set in chancel floor, and to nave and aisle. Mid C19 eight-bay arch-braced roof in chancel and nave. Late C15 south arcade, of granite, has moulded depressed arches set on quatrefoil-section piers, and Perpendicular capitals with relief-carved lozenges to abaci. South aisle has C15 waggon roof with moulded ribs, floral-carved bosses and trailing vine-leaf decoration to arcade plate. Fittings: mid C19 altar rail with reset C17 balusters. Mid C19 choir stalls, Gothic-style traceried pulpit, eagle lectern, traceried west screen and benches: late C15/early C16 carved bench ends at west end of nave have carvings of the Passion symbols, arms of Annery families, tracery, and beasts. The finest feature of this church is the early C16 parclose screen in the south Annery chapel, "amongst the most remarkable of the many Devon screens" (Pevsner): Perpendicular openwork tracery in upper panels, with richly-carved leaf decoration, (including Pelican and Tudor rose) in spandrels and to frieze above); lower panels, with applied tracery, have ballflower ornament to cinquefoiled heads; similar tracery to double doors; panels are divided by cable-moulded pilasters with crocketed finials. The carvings are remarkably similar to those at Weare Giffard Hall (q.v.). Similar-style late C19 screen to north side of south chapel. South door of chapel has late C15 architrave with finely-carved foliate decoration. C15 carved bench ends in chapel include some C15 trade emblems. Memorials: C17/18 ledger stones set in floors. Chancel has stele-type wall tablet to Augustus Saltren Willet, d. 1854; memorial to John Saltren, d. 1794, has stele-type tablet set on obelisk-shaped mount; female in classical dress weeping over draped urn placed above. Late C16 brass of kneeling man, set amongst twisted columns, heraldic shields and other decorative plasterwork from a former monument, is set above north chancel door. North transept has inscribed slate plate to Jane Coffin, d. 1646, and her baby son: they are depicted as a reclining mother holding her son; inscribed slate plate set in shouldered marble architrave to Henry Hurdinge, d. 1627, shows Hurdinge, his 2 wives and children kneeling at prayer. Also in north transept is monument with epitaph to William Gaye, d. 1631; heraldic achievement with broken pediment; black marble pilasters flank two demi-figures both with their heads supported by their hands. Nave has stele-type wall tablet to James Lewis, d. 1847. South east chapel, also known as Annery Chapel, has late C19 and C20 wall tablets; C18 wall memorial has slate inscription panel set in architectural frame with heraldic shields. This chapel also has fine monument to Sir William Hankford, Chief Justice of the King's bench, d. 1422: vine-leaf frieze with angel holding shield is set above recess, which has crocketed canopy to depressed pointed arch and quatrefoils to intrados of arch; tomb chest with slate top and ogee-headed and crocketed panels is placed within recess; two C15 brasses set into slate ledger stones in front of tomb. Stained glass: fine east window of the 1890s; C15 glass and C16 Flemish glass reset at heads of south chapel windows; early C20 west window; 1863 south west window. Hoskins has suggested that the parclose screen may date from 1537, when Dame Anne St. Ledger founded a chantry in the Annery chapel. (Buildings of England: North Devon, pp. 124-5, National Monuments Record; Devon County Record office, Faculty Petitions, No. 2 for Monkleigh Parish; W.G. Hoskins, Devon, 1954 (1972 edn), p. 439).

Listing NGR: SS4575820718

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

91458

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Devon North, (1952), 124-125
Hoskins, W G, A New Survey of England in Devon, (1954), 439

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