Description

BISHOPS TAWTON HERNER
SS 52 NE
10/45 CHURCH OF ST JOHN

II

Church. c.1870 with reused late Medieval carving inside said to have come from
Barnstaple Guildhall. Squared rubble with brick dressings. Slate roofs with coped
gable ends and apex crosses. Decorated style. Nave, chancel and south transeptal
tower. Tower of 2 stages with crocketted pinnacles at the 4 corners and stepped
parapet. 4-centred arched bell-opening to west side with louvre. Segmental brick
arch to north side with 2 4-centred arched lights infilled. Pointed arched bell-
opening to east side with traceried mouchettes, spandrels and timber lintel. Brick
sill and jamb. The south side has 2-light bell-opening with ashlar dressings,
above single light window in base, all with 4-centred arches. Reused C17 ovolo
moulded window surround with foliated stops to the base of the jambs and thick
glazing bars to 9-pane window on north side, 2nd stage. South side of nave has two
2-light pointed arch windows with quatrefoil and hoodmoulds. Gabled ventilator
above. South porch situated towards gable end with chamfered and stopped surround
to south doorway. Slated gabled roof to porch with apex wooden cross and carved
bargeboards. Pointed arched east and west windows of 3-lights with hoodmould. 2
buttresses with offsets to north side, and 3 pointed arched windows of 2-lights with
hoodmoulds. Single lancets with hoodmoulds to each side of chancel. Pointed
arched doorway on east side of vestry and 2-light window on south side.
Interior: all the openings have Victorian stencilled Vitruvian scrolled surrounds.
There is a considerable amount of reused late medieval carving said to have come
from Barnstaple Guildhall. 2 C19 arch braced trusses to nave roof are corbelled
out with elaborately carved mythical beasts supported on consoles. 2 late C16
carved bench ends to front 2 pews on north side. Stone base to pulpit with drum of
4 facets with Gothic tracery to the reused panels, top rail treated with lunettes
and variously carved heads between linenfolds. The returned end of the open facet
has a tall carving with Oriental figure supported on mythical beast. Above the
priests door is an opening to the tower filled with 3 panels of a reused screen
with flame finials to the 3 ogee-headed lights, sexfoil tracery to the heads.
Reused carvings in the hexagonal font with marble bowl and linenfold panels to the
facets and blind tracery to the panels on the stem. Painted panels to reredos each
side of altar, Truth, Valour, Peace to left side. Patience, Valour, Wisdom to
right side. 4 panels above the altar with reused top rail with grotesque figures
to each end, and lozenge carvings to the panels. Stained glass window to central
nave window on north side to Chichester family 1876.

Listing NGR: SS5859526764

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26401531

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)