Church of St Mary Blessed Virgin

CHURCH OF ST MARY BLESSED VIRGIN, MARKET ROAD

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Explore this list entry

Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1386222
Date first listed:
29-Mar-1960
List Entry Name:
Church of St Mary Blessed Virgin
Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF ST MARY BLESSED VIRGIN, MARKET ROAD
User submitted image
Contributed by ChurchCare This photo may not represent the current condition of the site. Over 400,000 images and stories have been added to the Missing Pieces Project so far. Share your story.
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places. 

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

Icon Buildings
Icon Scheduled monuments
Icon Parks and gardens
Icon Battlefields
Icon Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Images of England Project

To view this image please use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Edge.
Archive image, may not represent current condition of site.
Date:
2001-06-25
Reference:
IOE01/04440/12
Rights:
© Mr Gerald Rendle. Source: Historic England Archive

Local Heritage Hub

Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.

Discover more

Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1386222
Date first listed:
29-Mar-1960
Date of most recent amendment:
09-Nov-1998
List Entry Name:
Church of St Mary Blessed Virgin
Statutory Address 1:
CHURCH OF ST MARY BLESSED VIRGIN, MARKET ROAD

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:
CHURCH OF ST MARY BLESSED VIRGIN, MARKET ROAD

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:
City of Plymouth (Unitary Authority)
Parish:
Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:
SX 53771 56319

Details

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 12/11/2014


PLYMOUTH

SX5356SE MARKET ROAD, Plympton
740-1/40/433 (East side)
29/03/60 Church of St Mary Blessed Virgin
(Formerly Listed as:
PLYMPTON
Church of St Mary Blessed Virgin)

GV II*

Priory chapel, later a parish church. C14 chancel and E end of
N aisles, otherwise C15. Granite ashlar W tower, ashlar for
outer aisles and porches, otherwise limestone rubble with
limestone dressings; dry slate roofs with embattled parapets
and coped gable ends.
PLAN: nave; chancel; N and S aisles and shorter outer aisles;
N porch and 2-storey S porch; and W tower.
EXTERIOR: plinth, buttressed bays to aisles with parapet
cornice, carved gargoyles and buttress pinnacles; C14 windows
to E ends of N aisles and chancel, otherwise mostly C15 or
restored Perpendicular windows, most of 3 lights, all with
tracery and hoodmoulds. S porch has stepped cusped niches
surrounding 2-light cusped window, the upper niche with statue
of the Trinity; below the window is the crest of the Strode
family, who settled at Newham, near Plympton in 1394, all
above a virtually round-arched moulded doorway with carved
spandrels and square hoodmould. At E end of S aisle is
pointed-arched doorway and the springing of a relieving arch
by adjacent window. N porch has moulded 2-centred arched
doorway with moulded hood, carved spandrels and moulded
parapet cornice above; C19 panelled and boarded door. 3-stage
embattled tower has offset corner buttresses terminating as
pinnacles near top of upper stage; strings dividing stages and
the corners surmounted by octagonal pinnacles with battlements
and crockets; 3-light louvred windows to upper stage and clock
face under to N and S sides. The W side has 2-light window to
top of 2nd stage and 3-light window over moulded
pointed-arched doorway with carved spandrels and square
hoodmould.
INTERIOR: aisle arcades with 4-centred arches and piers of
standard A (Pevsner) type, the piers of the outer aisles are
granite; C14 piscina, and stone vault with lierne ribs over
the entrance within the S porch.
FITTINGS: C15 octagonal font; late C19 reredos by JD Sedding.
STAINED GLASS: some glass to outer S aisle by Burlison &
Grylls and glass at E end of N aisle and W end of S aisle by
Clayton & Bell.


MONUMENTS: altar slab from priory in S porch; medieval tomb
lid with cross to outer N aisle and chest tomb to Richard
Strode, d.1464, with figures of mourners and effigy with
armour, the top with ogee arches and horizontal cresting;
simpler effigy in recess to S chancel aisle probably to
William Courtenay of Loughtor; large tripartite wall monument
with Ionic columns and family group to Sir William Strode,
died 1637; cast stone monument to W Seymour, died 1801 by
Coade & Sealy; monument with 2 white putto leaning against an
obelisk with figure of a boy to Viscount Boringdon who died
1817 aged 11, by FN Delaistre, 1819, and monument with profile
head to Richard Rosdew, d.1837, by Chantrey.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-:
684-685).

Listing NGR: SX5377156319

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:
473606
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: Devon, (1989), 684-685

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Ordnance survey map of Church of St Mary Blessed Virgin

Map

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 07-Jun-2026 at 13:57:31.

Download a full scale map (PDF)
© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. Use of this mapping is subject to Terms and Conditions.

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.

Previous Overview
Next Comments and Photos