Malborough Church of All Saints Basics
Listed building grade 1
Regularly open
Address
Church of All Saints
Malborough
Kingsbridge
TQ7 3RR
Geographical coordinates
50°14’39.0″N 3°48’53.6″W (enter these in your smartphone navigator)
Devonchurchland says…
A fine thirteenth tower and spire is a delight to see, especially down here in a coastal parish, along with the lovely grey local stone.
There’s a fine fifteenth century porch as well, with a second floor, and granite vaulting inside with a four-headed roof boss.
Inside the first impression is of light and space, a big church with minimal stained glass, and then the graceful beerstone arches flowing down the nave come into play. Very nice indeed.
There is a fine Norman font too, well proportioned, and at the opposite end of the age train, a goodly nineteenth century altar based on the High Altar at Cologne Cathedral and an early example of the Neo-Gothic.
The highlight surely is an altar cloth of fifteenth century textiles, originally various parts of a priest’s bling but then recycled and adapted. It surely shows its age, but we can get an accurate idea of just how magnificent the church textiles were back in the day.
Then there is beautiful stained glass, the best surely is an abstract window of colour that captures the colours of the parish, the hills, seas and sands along with the wind and the waves. A beauty.
Just like the church really.
Outline
PLAN
- Nave
- Chancel
- North and south aisles
- North and south chapels
- Which extend full length of nave and chancel
- South porch
- West tower and spire
- Vestry to north of north chapel
AGE
- C13
- Largely rebuilt in C15
- Repaired in 1844
- Restored in 1870
BUILT FROM
- Built largely of coursed dressed blocks of the local Soar stone
- Which is a kind of slate
- Tower and spire are rendered
- Likely to be of different construction
- Being considerably earlier in date
- All dressings are of granite or restored in freestone
- Gable ended slate roofs
- With decorative C19 ridge-tiles
Exterior
WEST TOWER
- 3 stage
- With broach spire
- Diagonal buttresses
- Shallow rectangular stair turret on south side
- Single lancet belfry lights
- No west doorway
- West window is C19 in Perpendicular style
NORTH AISLE
- Battlemented
- Stonework a slightly coarser finish than on the south side
- 7 bays of debased Perpendicular granite windows
- Buttresses between
- Small 4-centred roll-moulded north doorway
VESTRY
- Large
- Crenellated
- At east end of north aisle
- 2 grand mullion windows
- Small rubble chimney
EAST END
- 3 gable ends are parallel
- Each has a C19 restored 5-light Perpendicular window
SOUTH CHAPEL
- A granite 3-light Perpendicular window
- A 4-centre arched, roll-moulded priest’s doorway
SOUTH AISLE
- 7 bays
- 5 of which are occupied by debased Perpendicular windows
- Other 2 by the 5-sided rood stair turret and the 2 storey porch
PORCH
- Roll-moulded 4-centre arched doorway
- South Hams voussoir type
- Small cinquefoiled light above
Interior
VARIOUS
- Interior of church and arcades are whitewashed
- 8-bay Beer stone arcades
- Clustered columns
- Individual carved capital to each shaft
- Moulded 4-centred arches between
- The last bay of the northern arcade at the east end is of granite
- 2 centred tower arch of voussoir stones
- To the south a small shouldered-head stone doorway
- To the tower stairs
- A 2-centred granite doorway in the north-west corner
- Of uncertain function.
- C13 trefoil-headed piscina in south wall of sanctuary
- Adjoining it is the springing of an arch apparently
- But cut off by the later arcade
- Filling the eastern end bay of each arcade is a section of the C15 rood screen
- Considerably restored
- The parclose screens in the adjoining bay are also medieval
- Somewhat restored
- The wagon roofs have been completely renewed during the restoration
- As has the seating throughout
- And the pulpit
- Just inside the north doorway is another stoup
- Arch above
- Front of the bowl carved with vine and grape device
- Good C12 tub font
- Arcading around sides
- Corner shafts to the central stem have been renewed
PORCH
- Very good granite rib-vaulted ceiling
- 6 shafts supporting the moulded ribs
- Large carved bosses at their intersections
- Holy water stoup with carved granite bowl
- C15 granite south doorway
- 4-centred arch
- Double roll-moulding
Other information
The earliest feature of the church is its C12 font, some C13 fabric survives in the chancel but it is mainly the tower and spire which constitute the pre-Perpendicular fabric of the church.
The nave, aisles, chapels and porch date from a rebuilding in the circa late C15. The date of the vestry to the north of the church is uncertain; with its mullion windows and crenellated walls it appears to be C17 but might have been built later, re-using old materials.
In 1844 the nave was repaired and in 1870 a thorough restoration took place, including a renewal of the roofs and seating.
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