Atherington Church of St Mary Basics
Listed building grade 1
Regularly open
Address
Church of St Mary
Atherington
EX37 9HU
Geographical coordinates
50°59’24.8″N 4°00’31.3″W (enter these in your smartphone navigator)
Devonchurchland says…
A true star amongst Devon’s churches, which is saying a lot, owing to the preservation of some fantastical medieval woodwork and more…
The building itself is 15th century, set at the crossroads of two main tracks, and is a handsome beast, inside though…
Inside there is not one but two rood screens, both grand examples of their time. The first is between the nave and the chancel, a fine example of an early 15th century screen, probably before rood lofts started being used down here.
The second is between the north aisle and the north chapel, and has the only surviving medieval rood loft in Devon, and it is a beauty.
The carving just twirls and whirls and is totally entrancing.
More delightful medieval woodwork is on the roof in the shape of over 150 roof bosses, some with imaginative figures and faces, some just foliage. All worth a good look.
Then the medieval bench ends come into play, quite a unique style and not at all like most surviving ones in they area.
In the chancel there are some High Medieval stone effigies and a very good brass, and around about some very good restored medieval stained glass,
All in all, a wonderful church with a truck load of marvellous to fall in love with.
Outline
PLAN
- West tower
- Nave
- North aisle
- South transept
- Porch
AGE
- C15
- North aisle C16
- Restored 1880s by J L Pearson
BUILT FROM
- Stone rubble
- Ashlar dressings
- Slate roofs
- With crested ridge tiles
- Apex crosses to coped parapets
Exterior
WEST TOWER
- 3 stages
- Embattled parapet
- Polygonal stair turret
- Rising above the tower on south side
- Short diagonal buttresses to tower
- Square-headed windows of 2 trefoil-headed lights
- To each face of third stage
- Drip moulds and louvres
- 2 single trefoil-headed lights under continuous drip moulds
- To east side.
- Clock face to south side, second stage
- West window of 4 lights
- Perpendicular style with unusual tracery
- Iron stanchions and saddle bars
- West doorway with pointed arched hoodmould
- Fleuron decoration around the hollow moulded door surround
NAVE
- South side has a Perpendicular style 2-light window
- Square-headed with dripmould
- 3-light Perpendicular windows between porch and south transept
- To east side of south transept
CHANCEL
- Two 3-light Perpendicular windows to south side
- Depressed pointed arched hoodmoulds
- Flanking priests door with a hollow-with-cyma-reversa moulded surround
- Pointed arched hoodmould with clasping foliage to the returned ends
- East window of 4 lights
- Perpendicular style with unusual tracery
- Iron stanchions and saddle bars
PORCH
- C19 double chamfered pointed arched doorway
- Smaller Perpendicular inner door surround
- Single plain chamfer and C19 dripmould
- Fine wagon roof of 7 ribs with half bosses to each end
- Full bosses to the moulded central rib at the intersections with the transverse members
- The ribs spring from crenellated wall plates
- Decorated with carved foliage and plain shields
NORTH AISLE
- 3-light Perpendicular window to east end
- North doorway
- Pointed arch with fleuron decoration to the hollow moulded surround
- 2 tall, probably late C16 straight-headed transomed windows
- 4-centred arched lights to left
- 3-light window in similar style but untransomed over the doorway
- Perpendicular 3-light window to its right and at west end
Interior
VARIOUS
- Tall unmoulded pointed tower arch
- Nave arcade of 4 bays with depressed pointed arches
- Supported on slender piers of Pevsner ‘A’ Type with capitals only to the main shafts
- Chancel arcade of 2 bays with plain moulded pointed arches
- Similar arch to south transept
- Along north aisle and nave wall are delicately wrought iron candelabra
- 3 to north aisle, 4 to nave
- C15 font with octagonal bowl and stem
- Bowl with blind quatrefoil panels to each facet
- 4 of which clasp plain shields
- C19 pulpit
CHANCEL
- C19 pattern tiles
- Old misere choir seats survive to each side
- 6 stalls to each sidE
- The 2 end seats returning to back onto the chancel screen
- 2 of the south side seats have foliated misericords
BENCH ENDS
- Fine set of 7 pairs of poppy head bench ends to front of nave
- Carved and crocketted with interestingly varied blind Perpendicular tracery
- The benches retain their moulded back rails and benches
- Pews to north aisle, rear of nave and base of tower, possibly C17, also complete
SCREENS
- That between chancel and nave is square-framed
- 4 lights to each side of central opening
- Slender muntins, crocketted above the lipped capitals
- Pinnacled ogival heads to the lights with mouchette tracery
- Surmounted by a crenellated wall plate
The lower stage is of 6 panels to each side - With blind tracery repeating that of the windows
- Screen between aisle and chancel remarkably retains its loft
- 4½ bays, the left end half bay with a closing rib to the coving
- Each bay of 2 lights with slender muntins
- Carved angel figures at springing level
- Supporting richly carved ribbed coving
- With cornice of 3 bands above
- Lower stage has blind cusped tracery to the panels
- Foliated designs to the base
- The loft of c.1530-40 has 4 full canted niche canopies
- With richly carved cresting and pinnacled ogival heads
- A sixth niche has been partly cut away beneath the end arcade arch
- 4 of the styles supporting the canopies have been removed
- Presumably when the painted panels were introduced
- These have now been reversed to face the gallery
- The 7 panels are arranged so that 2 with painted shields flank a wide panel depicting the Royal Arms
- With 2 narrow panels to left to each side of a scripted panel
- A single narrow panel to right end
- The rear of the loft has 12 panels with blind tracery
- Vine leaf decoration to the top and bottom rails
ROOFS
- Fine wagon roofs survive throughout
- Those to chancel and north aisle have carved armorial devices
- Variously carved bosses to every fourth moulded rib to each roof
- At the intersections of the transverse members
- Carved figures to the base of each moulded rib to the south transept roof
STAINED GLASS
- East chancel window with stained glass by Clayton and Bell
- Window to north side of north chancel chapel contains much medieval glass
- Reworked in 1883 also by Clayton and Bell to depict the Coronation of the Virgin
MONUMENTS
- North chancel chapel
- Knight mid C13
- Cross-legged with band of foliage around the base
- Said to be Sir William Champernowne of Umberleigh
- East chancel arcade
- Cluster of 3 chest tombs
- Raised tomb with blind quatrefoil tracery to the base has 2 C14 figures
- Male figure in armour, female figure with square-cut head dress
- Said to represent Sir Ralph Willington Kt (d.1349) and Lady Eleanor (Mohun) his wife
- Chest tomb adjoining on north side has damaged inscription to Sir Arthur Bassett and Eleanora his wife
- Tomb on west side
- With brasses of Sir John Bassett (d.1529) flanked by his 2 wives
- With 2 groups of 5 children to left, 7 to right
- 4 brasses of shields to each corner
- That to top left is missing
- On south side of plinth are 2 panels
- Each enclosing a quatrefoil containing letters S.I.K.B. and a shield
- Impaled but blank west end has 2 large shields with Bassett arms
- South side of chancel
- Wall monument, C17
- Medallions to centre of edges on each of the 4 sides
- Depicting angel bust above, skull below, anchor to left and hour glass to right
- West wall of south transept
- Wall monument, early C18 Classical urn flanked by foliage
- Ionic colonnettes supporting frieze with central shield
- Oval medallion with amorinos to each side at top
- Damaged skull to base below plank tablet with scrolled surround
- Over south porch doorway
- Marble wall tablet, erected 1832
- Recording death of George Burgess, Rector (d.1829)
- And death of 4 of his children in 1816 from “malignant fever then raging in the parish”
Other information
Much of the C15/C16 fabric survives. The screens are particularly interesting survivals. The chancel/nave screen is said to have come from the chapel at Umberleigh House (q.v.) but the evidence for this is uncertain. Access to the loft is by a plain chamfered pointed arched doorway
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