Modbury Church of St George Basics
Listed building grade 1
Regularly open
Address
Church of St George
Modbury
Ivybridge
PL21 0TL
Geographical coordinates
50°20’54.5″N 3°53’25.4″W (enter these in your smartphone navigator)
Devonchurchland says…
From the outside the obvious star of this church is the tower and spire, both originally 14th century but the spire was rebuilt in 1642 after being struck by lightning. Quite likely such a marvellous combination was built so early because Modbury Priory, right next door, used to run this church.
Another outside star is the variety of doors leading into the church, all with their own delightful character.
Inside there is a rare layout; at the west end are 14th century pillars, whilst up the east end 15/16th granite ones take over. Maybe the Black Death stopped the work, maybe another explanation, but it is grand to see the two styles in the same church.
There are plenty of old effigies around too, marvellous ones, with an outstanding tomb in the North Transept.
The clean sanctuary area with a colourful East Window is a beauty too.
The eagle lectern is well worth a look, a charming piece of carving.
Plenty of stained glass, a lot of it seemingly a meditation in colour rather than figurative. There’s a real nice window of Christ healing the sick though, real nice.
The pulpit is one of the stars of the show, made from 16th century bench ends and very good quality ones at that. They show clearly how down here in Devon stylised foliage was such in important part of Gothic carving.
Some lovely stencilled organ pipes and the old copper weather vane rounds out the show, apart of course from all the personal beauties we can discover… and there are plenty of those.
Outline
PLAN
- Nave
- West tower and spire,
- North and south aisles
- North and south transepts
- South chantry chapel
- Chancel with undercroft
- 2-storey south porch
AGE
- Mainly early C14
- Refenestration in C15
- Spire of C14 struck by lightning in 1621
- Rebuilt in original form
BUILT FROM
- Coursed rubble,
- Granite dressings
- Slate roofs
- Stone spire
Exterior
WEST TOWER
- Square and lofty tower of severe design
- Buttressed to 3 offsets,
- But terminating at 1/4 height
- Corresponding offsets in west and north walls.
- West face has renewed 4-light window
- uncusped without hood mould,
- Small cusped single light with louvres to each face of ringing chamber
- Small door north side
- Clock face to east
- Tall broach spire with small lucarne to each face
- Rises direct from tower without parapet or transitional feature
SOUTH SIDE
- To right of porch are three 4-light Perpendicular window
- Easternmost brought lower than the others
Divided by simple buttresses
- Easternmost brought lower than the others
- Corbel table to eaves
- Transept 4-light uncusped window set high, to thin hoodmould
- To right is wall of chantry chapel
- Two 4-light windows set high
- Uncusped except in spandrel openings
- Battlements square buttress with 2 offsets
- To pinnacle bases (not carried above parapet)
- Diagonal corner buttress
- Narrow door in C16 basket-handle arch
- Below a flat pointed arch above horizontal dripmould
EAST END
- East end of chapel has 5-light uncusped window in four-centred arch
- South side of chancel has 3-light similar uncuspedA
- Above C19 2-light in square stopped hood
- Main east window is C14 design 5-light cusped
- Above a C16 2-light with square stopped hood
North side of chancel plan, with small embattled vestry and door
NORTH SIDE
- Two 4-light windows uncusped
- Then rood-stair turret under swept-down roof
- In corner to transept which has 3-light Perpendicular window
- Priest’s door to basket-handle head with recessed mould
- Between windows of north chancel chapel
- To right of transept window a richly carved C16 door surround
- Tudor head but with a Jacobean frieze and some egg and dart enrichment
- Below the window a projecting tomb recess with quatrefoil light
- Right of transept a 4-light uncusped window in brought forward wall section
- Then north aisle wall
- With a 4-light Perpendicular and 4-light round arched uncusped window
- 2 buttresses with 2 offsets
- West return has blocked doorway between buttresses
- And a small segmental-headed C14 2-light adjacent to tower
PORCH
- Battlements
- Attached octagonal stair turret
- 2-light window to square head with dripmould over arched opening
- Flush voussoirs to outer plank doors
- Inner door has moulded surround to C19 door
- Segmental pointed ribbed barrel roof to porch
- No intermediate floor
Interior
CHANCEL
- 2-bay 4-centred wave and hollow mould arches to 4 hollow
- Shafts columns with decorated capitals
Plain walls to sanctuary - Multi-ribbed barrel ceiling in 42 compartments.
- Chantry chapels both have ribbed barrel ceilings
NAVE
- 3 broad pointed bays to crude chamfered arches
- Plain square cavetto caps to octagonal piers without bases
- Plain bay before tower with attached pilaster to double chamfered arch
- Outer chamfer carried down to pyramid stop
- At tower end raised 3 steps
- Stone flag floor, some concrete
- Ribbed barrel roof, continuous through crossing bay.
- North aisle Ribbed barrel roof same height as navy
- South aisle ribbed barrel roof as nave but slightly lower
- Re-arches to high-set windows
- Plain wall beyond arcade at west end containing C19 baptistery.
- At the east end a moulded granite arch carried on a corbel respond on the south side
- The crossing has 3 arches
- With wave and hollow mould carried on trumpet capitals
- Decorated on the east side panels
SOUTH TRANSEPT
- Opens to aisle and east chapel
- Two early C14 tomb niches with double cusping
- One contains C15 alabaster effigy
NORTH TRANSEPT
- Vestry screen and organ;
- Basket-handle arch door in east wall
- Very rich C14 tomb recess with damaged figures, north wall
FITTINGS
- C19 font on 8 colonnettes
- Pulpit made up from panels of C15 screen
- On tapered octagonal base
- Reading desk a very fine carved memorial to the 1914-18 war,
- Opposite this a simplified version of 1952 to Reuben Mears
- Good Eagle lectern
- No glass of significance
MONUMENTS
- See transepts
- Also in naves, high on south side, coloured 1639 tablet
- With 5 children
- In north aisle several tablets
- The best of these of 1690 to John de Train, in classical design
- Upright against south wall of south chantry, to Philip Champernown, 1684
- A fine incised slab, with a signature OELIVIO
Other information
Anglican parish church, formerly a dependency of Modbury Priory
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