Summary
This was the orginal parish church of Honiton, built around 1480 on the site of an earlier chapel. It was extended in the early C16 but became a chapel of ease to the new parish church in 1838. Restored in 1896 by E H Harbottle, it was rebuilt and restored in 1912 by CE Ponting after a devasting fire. Lych gate of 1909; restored 1976.
Reasons for Designation
The Church of St Michael and All Angels which dates from the C15, was enlarged in the early C16, and restored in 1896 and again in 1912 following a fire, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* for the good survival of medieval fabric and for the well-considered early-C20 restoration;
* it contains several notable C16 and C17 tombs, wall-mounted memorial tablets dating from the C18 to the C19, and an interesting collection of mostly C19 graffiti.
Historic interest:
* the early-C20 restoration was carried out by C E Ponting, a well-regarded architect, based in Wiltshire, and Diocesan Surveyor for Salisbury, who was careful to preserve and complement the existing work.
Group value:
* with the lych gate and the Grade II listed former sexton’s house.
History
The Church of St Michael and All Angels is prominently sited in an elevated position on a hill, possibly in the vicinity of the late Saxon settlement (Devon & Dartmoor HER, see Sources), overlooking the present town centre to the north-west. It dates from the late C15 and was built on the site of an earlier chapel, also dedicated to St Michael; the foundations of which were discovered in the late C19. It was paid for by Bishop Courtenay of Exeter. The church was enlarged in the early C16 by wealthy merchant John Takell and his wife Joan when the chancel was rebuilt, and the north and south aisles and north porch were added. The church was re-seated in the C18 (Church Heritage Record) and galleries were added to the aisles in the early C19.
Following the construction of a new parish church, dedicated to St Paul, in the present town centre in 1835-1838, St Michael’s became a chapel of ease and services continued to be held there once a month. It was restored and altered internally by E H Harbottle (Pevsner) in 1896. At this time the aisle galleries were removed, and the seating was re-ordered with new pews introduced. In 1911 a fire caused significant damage to the church, gutting the interior and resulting in the loss of many fittings, with little more than the walls and the tower remaining. The building was rebuilt and restored by C E Ponting, Salisbury Diocesan Surveyor, and was re-dedicated the following year. During the restoration some Norman fabric, including a corbel in the south chapel was uncovered. In 1931 a new organ was installed. Regular services ceased in the late C20 and the church closed for worship in 2023, although it continues to be used for occasional services and for special events.
Details
Former parish church, latterly a chapel of ease. Around 1480; extended in early C16. Restored in 1896 by E H Harbottle; rebuilt and restored in 1912 by CE Ponting after a devasting fire. Lych gate of 1909; restored 1976.
MATERIALS
The church is constructed of random Beer stone rubble and ashlar under slate and lead roofs. The lych gate is built of random rubble with dressings of dressed stone and a slate roof.
PLAN
It has a rectangular plan comprising a nave, wide aisles, centrally-placed transepts that do not extend beyond the aisles, chancel, north and south chapels, and north porch. The west tower breaks forward of the rest. The building is orientated north-west to south-east, but the cardinal points are used here.
EXTERIOR
The church is built in a late Perpendicular style. The late-C15 two-stage west tower has a chamfered plinth, moulded stringcourses with a gargoyle at each corner of the upper stringcourse, an embattled parapet and setback corner buttresses rising halfway up the second stage. The west doorway is set within a pointed arched surround with mouldings and vine carvings. There is a four-light window with tracery above. On the second stage, each elevation has a louvred window of two lights with cusped heads. The stair turret at the south-east corner rises above the rest of the tower and is accessed from a plank door in a pointed-arched surround with hollow jambs. The lead on the roof of the tower is date stamped 1770 and contains C19 graffiti which mostly takes the form of outlines of shoes.
The west end of each aisle has a three-light window in a pointed arched surround and a square-headed window of two lights above set beneath a small gable. The south aisle is rendered, and stepped buttresses define the five bays. An embattled parapet is broken by the wide, central gabled bay of the transept which is flush with the aisle wall. It contains a large four-light window and is flanked by two three-light windows, all have pointed arched surrounds. The north aisle is of similar design as regards the windows, gabled bay and four-light window to the transept, and an embattled parapet. To the left of the transept is a round-headed doorway opening onto the north chapel and a three-sided stair projection that gave access to the roof loft. The door to the stair, which has been infilled, is set in a pointed-arched surround with roll mouldings and spandrels. To the right of the transept is a two-storey porch with corner buttresses and an embattled parapet to the sides. The outer arch of the porch has moulded jambs, a pointed arch, and a hoodmould with label stops. The doorway has a decorative wrought-iron gate. Above is a square-headed opening with a single light with cusped head. Within the porch are stone side benches. To the west (right) of the porch is a window of four lights.
There are angled corner buttresses to the east end. The east window has five lights under a pointed arch and the side chapels have much-reduced four-light windows with pointed heads.
INTERIOR
The north doorway is early C16 and has a hollow chamfered surround with label stops and a studded oak door. On a wooden plinth above the door is a gilded angel that formerly surmounted a tester over the pulpit (visible in historic photographs), and high in the wall to the left is a blocked doorway to the parvis (room above the porch). The tower has a tall pointed arch and below this, separating the base of the tower from the nave is a four-bay section of an early-C20 rood screen which was made to replace the medieval screen that originally extended across the chancel and north and south chapels until it was destroyed by the fire in 1911 (Honiton u3a, see Sources). The early-C20 screen which is of a similar design to the original was moved to its current location in the mid-C20 but was later damaged during an arson attack at the church. In the base of the tower is a small kitchenette and toilets. The west window has stained glass of 1827 which survived the fire. The tower’s upper floors are reached by a stone spiral staircase accessed from outside the building. The bell frame dates from 1901 and there are six bells.
The early-C16 arcade has clustered piers with foliate and fruit carved capitals that support roll-moulded arches with pointed heads. The two-bay nave has a clerestory with dormer windows that have octafoil cusping in trefoil surrounds. At the east end of the nave is a decorative timber pulpit. In the north aisle, to the right of north door, is a tomb of black marble for Thomas Marwood (d 1617), former physician to Elizabeth I; restored in the mid-C19, and in the south aisle is a late-C19 octagonal pedestal font that was restored in 1912; the base appears earlier.
The transepts are defined by wide arches in the arcade and do not extend out beyond the outer walls of the aisles. High in the wall of the north transept is a flattened, four-centred arched opening for the former rood loft. In the south transept wall is a piscina which has a cusped head. The floors are concrete, overlaid with herringbone patterned wood blocks in the nave, transepts and aisles. The chancel and its adjacent chapels are raised by a single step from the nave. The two-bay chancel has a plain, pointed arch which is spanned by a timber beam carried on corbels. Either side of the chancel are oak choir stalls with ornate ends on raised fixed platforms. The western arcade bays have timber parclose screens of 1926 by Herbert Read of Exeter, and two of the capitals carry inscriptions to pray for the souls of John and Joan Takell who restored the chancel and added the aisles. The east window contains some stained glass from 1827, and the embellished reredos is early C20. The chancel floor is laid with a marble pavement and wood block. In the floor of the north chapel are the gravestones of Joan Takell (d 1529) and John Blagdon (d 1694), while the altar and reredos in the south chapel were brought from Allhallows Chapel, Rousden. Both chapels have Portland stone floors. Among the C18 and C19 wall memorials is one to George Blagdon Westcott, Captain of the HMS Majestic who died in 1798 at the Battle of the Nile. The wagon roof dates from the early-C20 restoration. It has common rafters with chamfered ribs and carved bosses, and at the crossing it is carried by piers and corbels to the west and east respectively; each slightly different.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURE
At the north entrance to the churchyard is a memorial lych gate of 1909 to Hugh John Fortescue which was restored in 1976. It has stone side walls and a timber frame with curved braces which support the plain tiled gablet roof. There is cusped openwork to each gablet, and the ridge is crowned with the remains of a cross. The timber gates have been removed.
