Church of St Margaret

Details

SS 91 NW STOODLEIGH STOODLEIGH

9/171 Church of St Margaret - 5.4.66 GV II*

Parish church. Font probably C12; west tower, western bays of nave and aisle C15, church extended by one bay to the east, chancel rebuilt and whole church thoroughly restored 1872-9 by Henry Woodyer at a total cost of £2,300. Medieval masonry rubble. C19 masonry snecked stone; red tiled roof. Plan and Development Woodyer extended the nave and aisle by one bay and entirely rebuilt the chancel and aisle south wall incorporating the medieval south doorway and some earlier masonry. Flamboyant window tracery is Woodyer's design. Plan of west tower, nave, chancel, 4-bay south aisles south chancel chapel, south porch. Chancel roof carried down as catslide over north-east vestry. Exterior: C15 battlemented tower with a plinth, diagonal buttresses and a 3-sided north-east stair turrett. Medieval 4-centred west doorway, 3-light C19 Perpendicular west window; bay 2-light C19 traceried openings on all 4 faces. The nave has buttresses and 2- and 3-light Perpendicular windows except a C19 Decorated pulpit window to the east of the rectangular stair turret. The south chancel chapel is defined by a string course, buttresses and C19 Decorated windows. Woodyer's chancel is buttressed with a string course and a 3-light flamboyant east window, the hoodmould carried down on corbels below the sill. Gabled south porch with a 2- centred outer doorway and C19 roof and a C19 outer order added to the late medieval moulded inner doorway; probably C17 panelled door. Interior: Chancel and most fittings by Woodyer; notable late medieval nave roof. Rendered walls, the edge of the render decorated to draw attention to the medieval openings. Tall medieval chamfered tower arch with pyramid stops and abutment to the north and south faces; richly moulded chancel arch by Woodyer with moulded responds and carved capitals. 4-bay arcade, the easternmost bay a Woodyer copy of the late medieval slender piers with corner shafts carrying moulded Tudor arches on foliage- carved capitals. Depressed medieval segmental arch presumably resited between chancel and south chancel chapel with C19 parclose. Hagioscope pierces the same wall. Fine late medieval open wagon roof to the nave, presumably extended by Woodyer, with moulded ribs and an unusual variety of carved bosses; wall plates carved with rustic green men. Unceiled wagon to aisle with moulded ribs; boarded wagon to chancel with moulded ribs and small bosses. Fittings: Very complete Woodyer fittings to chancel: stone and local marble reredos with symbols of the evangelists painted in gold; 1879 tiling; poppyhead choir stalls, the book rests on iron standards; communion rail with iron standards; low timber chancel screen with traceried panels. The nave has an unusual possibly C12 font; a round bowl on a cylindrical stem decorated with 2 carved profile heads and mouldings on the base; C19 font cover in the Romanesque style. 1879 brattished stone pulpit with bold tracery panels; 1879 plain square-headed bench ends. Important set of ten Hardman windows with memorial dates between 1862 and 1910: a series which adds to the coherence of the interior. C19 brass fittings in chancel possibly also by Hardman. Painted Royal Arms dated 1742 in frame on nave wall.

Listing NGR: SS9225818830

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

96817

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.