HOLBETON † All Saints
10m/16km E. of Plymouth
OS SX613501 GPS 50.3352N, 3.9503W
This simple church stands on a slope above the village. Sedding did the very good restoration for the Mildmay family and, as well as restoring the old, introduced a fine Arts and Craft feel. The carved bench ends, chancel roof and sedilia all bear Sedding’s touch. The screens are post-Reformation, with fine tight-carved tracery. It’s a pity he didn’t attend to the glass, which is poor. In the N. chapel is a memorial to Sir Thomas Hele; all 22 of his children are shown praying.
HONEYCHURCH † St Mary
7m/11km N.E. of Okehampton
OS SS629028 GPS 50.8086N, 3.9470W
Far from any village and as delightful as its place name, St Mary is a simple Norman building, done up in the 15th century and given three new bells, new benches and a little tower – all still there. The pulpit is Elizabethan; the Norman font has a Jacobean cover. The blackest-hearted pagan would smile at Honeychurch as he pushed open the door and saw this touching little interior.
HORWOOD † St Michael
3m/4km E. of Bideford
OS SS502276 GPS 51.0290N, 4.1373W
A delightful little church up in the hills; again no village. All dates from about 1500, decently kept. The mid-15th-century alabaster effigy of a lady is probably Elizabeth Pollard, hence the Pollard Aisle. There are 16th-century bench-ends, 17th-century altar rails, some medieval glass and tiles, and numerous floor-slabs and memorials to centuries of squires. Nothing at Horwood is outstanding, but all is in rustic harmony.
KENTISBEARE † St Mary
6m/10km N.W. of Honiton
OS ST068081 GPS 50.8650N, 3.3257W
This is a good Perpendicular church throughout in luxuriant countryside. Its beautiful checkered tower is of red sandstone and white Beer-stone. A pier capital in the S. aisle has a carved ship and woolpack, and the early 16th-century rood screen is one of the county’s best. There is also refined tracery and some original colour, and a fine W. gallery of 1632.
KENTON † All Saints
4m/6km N. of Dawlish
OS SX957833 GPS 50.6401N, 3.4750W
A fine late 14th-century church in a large, rich village. This is red sandstone country, and the church is built of it to a fully aisled Devonshire plan at its best. There is a handsome tower and S. porch, and a Beer-stone arcade with carved capitals. The massive and stately rood screen and loft were restored by Read of Exeter; he also restored the fine medieval pulpit. Henry Wilson made the central cross.
MANATON † St Winifred
3m/4km S. of Moretonhampstead
OS SX749812 GPS 50.6178N, 3.7690W
St Winifrid’s is an engaging granite church in a picturesque village. The tower and nave were much repaired after storm damage in 1779. The celebrated 11-bay rood screen is enriched by painted panels of saints and, unexpectedly, small statuettes above the central doorway.
MARYSTOW † St Mary the Virgin
6m/10km N.W. of Tavistock
OS SX434828 GPS 50.6244N, 4.2144W
In a lonely setting among the trees, the church has remains of a Norman S. doorway and an early 14th-century chancel. There is a good free-standing monument to Sir Thomas Wyse, d. 1629.
MOLLAND † St Mary
6m/10km E. of South Molton
OS SS807283 GPS 51.0425N, 3.7018W
St Mary’s stands on the Exmoor foothills in quiet farmland. An unremarkable 15th-century exterior, but inside is Georgian and complete – plastered and whitewashed, with a three-decker pulpit, box pews and ceiled roofs. The chancel is shut off by a rustic 18th-century ‘screen’ with plastered tympanum above. There are 17th- and 18th-century monuments to the recusant Courtenay family, lords of the manor.
MORTEHOE † St Mary the Virgin
4m/6km W. of Ilfracombe
OS SS456451 GPS 51.1851N, 4.2093W
A wild windswept outcrop close by the Atlantic coast is the setting for this dark, cruciform church, of an older period than usual in Devon. It has largely escaped the restorer and is mostly Early English. The two-bay N. aisle is rustic; the S. aisle more refined, with Perpendicular windows illuminating a strange passage connecting transept and nave. In the S. transept is the traceried tomb chest of Rector William de Tracey, d. 1322. The chancel arch is filled with a memorial mosaic by Selwyn Image.
NEWTON ST CYRES
† St Cyres and St Julitta
3m/4km S.E. of Crediton
OS SX879979 GPS 50.7707N, 3.5907W
On a bold site above an unusually attractive village of cob and thatch, the church, of local volcanic stone, dates from the early 15th century. The arcade is of Beer-stone. There is an 18th-century canopied pulpit and striking monuments to Northcotes, especially that of John Northcote, d. 1632, a lifesize male figure, seemingly in Wellington boots.
NORTH BOVEY † St John the Baptist
2m/3km S.W. of Moretonhampstead
OS SX739838 GPS 50.6405N, 3.7842W
An attractive green village with old oaks. The chancel is 13th-century, otherwise this is a 15th-century granite church with broad low interior, ceiled wagon roofs and a good screen with statuettes under crocketed canopies similar to those at Manaton.
OTTERY ST MARY † St Mary the Virgin
11m/18km E. of Exeter
OS SY098955 GPS 50.7528N, 3.2792W
This is a grand town church of even higher rank than Crediton and Cullompton. With a somewhat French exterior and collegiate in appearance, it was closely modelled on Exeter Cathedral by the munificent Bishop Grandisson, who rebuilt the original church in 1342. The Dorset Aisle with its beautiful fan-vaulted roof was added in about 1520. The interior is all impressive with much detail for study: the roof-bosses in the crossing vault are particularly fine. Dating from the 14th century are the clock in the S. transept, the excellent canopied tombs of Sir Otho de Grandisson, d.1359, and his wife, Lady Beatrix de Grandisson, choir-stalls, altar screen, sedilia, minstrels’ gallery and wooden eagle given by Bishop Grandisson. There was a thorough restoration by Blore and Butterfield in 1850; they did less harm than might be expected. The same could not be said for the 1977 repainting, which is disturbing and disruptive.
PAIGNTON † St John the Baptist
3m/4km S.W. of Torquay