Burrington Church of the Holy Trinity Basics
Listed building grade 1
Regularly open
Address
Church of the Holy Trinity
Burrington
Chulmleigh
EX37 9JQ
Geographical coordinates
50°55’59.4″N 3°56’24.2″W (enter these in your smartphone navigator)
Devonchurchland says…
With a rare north tower and some good original windows Burrington church is a delight to appreciate on the outside.
On the inside it gets better.
It’s full of light, having only two stained glass windows, a big space with a lovely atmosphere, and a roof to die for.
Up there are a host of medieval roof bosses and some equally old angels along the wall. The bosses seem to show various representations of Christ amongst other things: wIth his mom, with St Christopher, as the Lion of Judah, The Four Evangelists bringing the news about him and more.
The carving of the bosses is probably mid to late 1400s, naive and powerful, really lovely and close-focus binoculars or a very good zoom lens are needed.
Then there is the magnificent rood screen from the 1500s, repainted in the 1800s. It really is very good indeed, and the colouring, though slightly historically inaccurate, brings the whole to life with pizazz.
The stained glass is worth a good look, especially the window in the south aisle.
Spend quality time with the screen and the bosses and everything else is just very nice fancy gravy.
Outline
PLAN
- North transeptal tower
- Nave
- South Aisle and south chapel
- Chancel
- South porch
AGE
- C13 fabric to base of tower and north wall of nave and possibly chancel
- Nave and chancel remodelled in C15
- South aisle and porch added C15
- Restored 1869 by Haywood
BUILT FROM
- Random stone rubble, roughly coursed to south aisle.
- West end of south aisle and nave and tower are rendered
- Granite and Firestone dressings
- Slate roofs with coped gable ends, apex crosses and crested ridge tiles
Exterior
NORTH TOWER
- North transeptal
- 3 stages
- Embattled parapet
- Short diagonal buttresses
- Polygonal south-west stair turret
- Tall 2-light transomed bell-openings on north and east sides
- Single bell-opening on west side
- All cusped-headed
- C19 3-light pointed arched window to base of north side
- With human head corbels to the hoodmould
- Clockface on east side
- Above single trefoil-headed light window
NAVE
- Large C19 4-light window to west end of nave
- Large sexafoil traceried head
- Pointed arched hoodmould with human head corbels
- 2 C19 nave north side windows
- 2 lights
- Quatrefoil traceried heads
- Human head corbels to the pointed arched hoodmoulds
CHANCEL
- East Window
- C19 Perpendicular-style
- Pointed arched
- 3 lights
- With human head corbels
SOUTH AISLE
- Perpendicular windows
- Dartmoor granite
- East window of 5 lights being particularly impressive
- Outer mullions are replacements
- Inner mullions have cavetto flanking roll mouldings
- 3 slate headstones attached to wall below
- To Sarah Snell (d.1738), James Forde (d.1789) and James Batt (d.1814)
- 3 Perpendicular windows to the right of the south porch
- 3 lights each,
- Similarly moulded mullions
- Right-hand window above the C19 priests door being shorter
- C19 Perpendicular style pointed-arched window of 3 lights
- Left of porch
- Human head corbels to the hoodmould
- C19 west window
- Intersecting glazing bars
- Perpendicular hoodmould and part of moulded surround
PORCH
- Gabled
- Virtually semi-circular headed Perpendicular doorway
- Heavily moulded granite surround
- C19 door of 2 leaves
- Iron spear-headed top-rails
- Perpendicular C15 waggon roof with carved bosses
- At the intersections of every third moulded rib
- Round-arched niche above 4-centred arched Perpendicular inner doorway
- Ogee moulded granite surround
- Fine original framed and ledged door
- Applied cusped headed tracery to front
- Containing blank shield and cover strips
- Originally forming 4 lights but central rib missing
Interior
NAVE & AISLE
- Unmoulded C13 pointed tower arch
- Fine granite south arcade of 5 bays
- Piers of Pevsner A type
- Capitals to the main shafts only
- Decorated with abaci
- Ogee-headed piscina to south aisle
- Complete C19 nave seating
- Late C17 polygonal pulpit with fielded panelled facets
- Norman font
- Square bowl with scalloped base
- On circular stem
- Largely retooled.
ROOFS
- Fine unceiled Perpendicular waggon roofs to nave and south aisle
- Variously carved bosses
- At the intersections of every fourth moulded rib
- South aisle has angel figures bearing shields
- At the base of each enriched rib at intervals along the wall plates
- Carved with trailing leaf decoration
- Nave roof wall plates are carved with floriate decoration
- Crenellated wall plate to C19 chancel roof in same style
ROOD SCREEN
- Fine Perpendicular chancel screen of 8 bays
- Open-panelled tracery of Pevsner ‘B’ type
- Ribbed coving decorated with stalks and flowers
- 3 cornice bands and cresting above
CHANCEL
- Late C17 communion rails
- Alternating twisted and shaped balusters
- Pointed arched piscina
MEMORIALS
- Chancel, north wall
- Marble wall tablet by Rowe of Exeter
- To Rev. James Buckingham
- Rector of Burrington for 50 years
- d. 1855
- And to other members of family
- Chancel, south wall
- Slate, nowy-arched to Ann daughter of Nicholas Hole
- Vicar d.1769
- And to Nicholas Hole d.1797
- Tablet below piscina to William Harvey M.A.,
- Rector also for 50 years
- d.1665
- With verse
- Nave, north side
- Tablets to
- Sophia Weeks (d.1826)
- And William Pennicott, Surgeon, of London (d.1747)
- South aisle.
- Slate wall monument by Howell of Chulmleigh
- To Cooke family
- Late C18 and early C19.
Twin monument to John and Mary Babbage d.1799 - Also by Howell
STAINED GLASS
- East window
- And easternmost window on south side of south aisle
- In memory of Matthew Thomas Loveband, Vicar.
Other information
Apart from the reroofing of the chancel and refenestration of the nave in the C19, this is largely an imposing medieval church with fine Perpendicular roofs, screen and granite dressings. The interesting transeptal position of the tower is shared with several other Devon churches.
Apart from the Norman font, the earliest surviving features are the C13 base to the transeptal tower and north wall of the nave and possibly chancel. The rest of the nave and chancel were rebuilt in the C15 when the south aisle was added with its arcade and large granite Perpendicular windows and south porch.
The chancel may have been largely rebuilt by Hayward in 1869 when its roof was replaced.
This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
