Loxbeare Church of St Michael and All Angels Basics
Listed building grade 2*
Regularly open
Address
Loxbeare
Tiverton
EX16 9RH
Geographical coordinates
50°56’03.0″N 3°32’59.7″W (enter these in your smartphone navigator)
Devonchurchland says…
A very pretty church in such a neat and well-mown churchyard, it is like a little country church out of an old child’s picture book. Delicious.
The Tower is Norman and a rarity for Devon. Squat, blocky, it is a beauty, very impressive indeed.
The gates to the south porch date from the 1860s and are a fine pair.
Inside the porch there is a totally unexpected Norman doorway, a total prize, very rustic, very striking, with a Latin inscription on the keystone that probably dates back to Saxon times.
The church itself is very simple, nave and chancel only, just like a Norman would have been. It is possible that it follows the Norman footprint and even that the some of the walls date back to that era. The windows though are all 19th century replacements.
There are some outstanding pieces of 17th century carving in the chancel, very Devon style, rescued from the west gallery when it was taken down. The pulpit too is a fine piece of woodwork.
There is also a very good 19th century prayer desk in the chancel, apparently originating from Gilbert Scott’s restoration of Exeter Cathedral. Whether the design is Scott’s or not cannot be told, but it is definitely good enough to be by him.
Tiles, font, memorials, a very nice royal coat of arms, all worth a pleasure or three, along with a good stained glass window in the north wall.
All in all a gentle church with a bucket load of prettiness. A fine place to rest and enjoy.
Outline
PLAN
- Small nave
- Chancel
- South porch
- C19 north-east vestry
- West Tower
- Squat, unexpectedly large on plan but very short
AGE
- Romanesque south doorway C12
- Tower possibly C12 or C13
- Remainder of fabric probably early medieval
- Windows C19
RESTORATION
- Restoration of 1850 including
- Romanesque style chancel window
- Rebuilding east and south walls
- Further restoration of 1896 by Harbottle Reed.
BUILT FROM
- Stone rubble
- Ashlar masonry to tower
- Slate roof.
Exterior
CHANCEL
- 1850 round-headed Romanesque chancel window
- Splayed with shafts to the interior
- Priest’s doorway on the south side restored 1850
- C19 square-headed south windows with trefoil-headed lights
VESTRY
- Gabled 1850 north-east vestry with stack
NAVE
- The north side of the nave is rendered
- 1 3-light similar C19 window
- South side of nave with 1 1-light and 1 3-light C19 window
WEST TOWER
- Odd 2-stage tower
- Shallow projecting north-east stair turret
- Low parapet
- Evidence of considerable rebuilding including
- Part of a string course on the west face
- A chamfered belfry opening to left of centre
- Chamfered rounded west doorway with pyramid stops
- 2-light possibly medieval Ham Hill west window
- Tudor arched lights
SOUTH PORCH
- Gabled south porch
- 2-centred chamfered outer doorway
- Pyramid stops
- Pair of circa 1860s iron gates with curved top rails
- Plain plaster barrel ceiling
- C12 inner doorway
- Surviving outer order of zig-zags
- Remnants of zig-zag decoration on the tympanum
- Square-headed doorway below the tympanum
- Keystone inscribed + AILMA/BEFOD/OMN/
- Though John Stabb in ‘Some Old Devon Churches (1908-1916) transcribes it as + AILMA/RFECD/OMV
Interior
NAVE
- Plastered walls with some exposed masonry round the windows
- Chancel arch formed by junction of chancel and nave roofs
- Plain moulded tower arch with abutment to the east
- Plastered barrel ceiling to nave
- Ovolo-moulded centre rib
- Possibility of early roof timbers concealed by plaster
- C19 floor tiling incorporating memorials from replaced ledger stones
- Late C19 nave benches
- 1904 lectern by Harry Hems of Exeter
CHANCEL
- Slender C19 arched brace roof to chancel
- Late C19 choir stalls incorporating C17 fragments
- Rectangle of medieval tiles below the east window
- Circa early C18 bobbin-turned altar rails
- 1870 prayer desk originating from Gilbert Scott’s restoration of Exeter Cathedral
PULPIT
- Pretty late C17 pulpit (restored 1868) with sounding board
- A slender drum with a carved cornice
- Knots and drapery carved on the drum
- A C17 panel with a cherub’s head and brackets is fixed to the wall behind the pulpit
FONT
- 19th century
- Square bowl with chamfered corners
MEMORIALS
- 2 C17 wall plaques to members of the Cudmore family
- A number of early C19 white marble wall plaques
ROYAL COAT OF ARMS
- George I
- Painted, in a nowy-headed frame above the south door
- Dated 1725
- Signed “Johannes Gill Tiverton pinxit”
STAINED GLASS
- North window with memorial date of 1875
- Probably by Drake of Exeter
Other information
The Norman tower is a real rarity for Devon.
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