Description

LISKEARD

SX2564 CHURCH STREET NORTH
979-1/5/62 (South side)
23/09/50 Parish Church of St Martin

GV II*

Parish church. Some reused Norman fragments, mostly C15 south
chapel from 1428, south chancel aisle of 1430, additions to
north from 1477, Norman tower repaired in 1675 of which the
doorway and some Norman fragments are incorporated into the
present 1903 tower by John Sampson of Liskeard; restored 1879
and 1890. Slatestone rubble walls, some granite ashlar,
granite and freestone dressings; dry Delabole slate roofs
behind embattled parapets.
Large complex plan: 5-bay nave, 3-bay choir chancel, west
tower, north aisle with chantry chapel projections south
aisle, 3-bay Lady Chapel, north and south porches and two C20
vestries. 3-stage embattled tower with offset corner
buttresses has 3-centred arched doorway inscribed 1627,
otherwise 1903 with Perpendicular-style features including
large west window and paired louvred bell-stage windows with
linked hoodmoulds under a machicolated parapet cornice.
Overall the church is 8 bays plus tower and except for C19
east windows to chancel and south aisle the windows are C15,
most with original outer frame but with mullions and tracery
partly or wholly replaced in the C19. There are 13
consecration crosses in various positions to north and south
aisles and a sundial to east side of porch dated 1779.
South elevation has weathered buttresses dividing the bays
with angle buttresses at the corners. 2-storey porch has
4-centred arched doorway with quatrefoils to the spandrels;
2-light cinquefoil-headed window over which is flanked by
empty statue niches but has smaller niche with statue above.
North elevation is articulated by having alternate projecting
bays with 4-light traceried windows to each bay. North porch
has 4-centred arched doorway with similar 4-light windows
over.
INTERIOR: large lofty interior has plastered or lime-washed
walls; C15 tall standard A (Pevsner) granite arcades with
4-centred arches: 5 bays flanking the nave; 2 bays flanking
the choir and 3 bays between south aisle and the Lady Chapel.
Arches to choir and east end of south aisle spring from
moulded responds over reset carved Norman heads. C15 stone
vaults to chantry chapels and chamfered rear arches to all
windows. C19 waggon roofs. Some carved fragments of C15 waggon
roofs are displayed in the Lady Chapel.
Fittings: Norman font bowl set in E wall as stoup; C15 piscina
to S aisle; C16 piscina to N aisle (E end); C16 font with
large Gothic-style font cover of 1917; beautifully carved
octagonal oak pulpit of 1636 by Peter Short; GR coat of arms
1747; nowy-headed painted panels with names of benefactors to
N porch; pine pews of 1856; early C20 Gothic-style choir
stalls, memorial parclose screens 1897; memorial benches with
ends carved in C16 style to Lady Chapel; altar by J Sampson
with top of oak from Mount Hebron and front panels of olive
wood from Gethsemane; freestone reredos with blind traceried
panels and memorial windows with coloured glass to E end and
to S except for one and to W end.
Monuments include: resited chest tomb lid under reredos to
Thomas Johnson d.1666 aged 57; monument to Dorothy, wife of
Richard Roberts, Mayor of Liskeard, d.1697; marble, slate and
freestone aedicule with crest to S wall of Lady Chapel to John
Trehawk, d.1710 aged 32 and several wall monuments to chantry
chapels including marble by Captain Thomas Byam Martin and
officers of HMS Implacable to the memory of Lieutenant Joseph
Hawkey, d.1809 aged 23; marble to Sophia Badley, d.1839, by
Crocker of Plymouth; marble to John Marke of Woodhill Manor
(qv), d.1823 aged 63 and to N wall a marble to Sedly Bastard
Marke, son of John Marke, d.1855 aged 19.
Except for Truro Cathedral one of the 3 largest churches in
Cornwall, distinguished by its many chantry chapels erected at
the expense of the various town guilds.
(Kelly's Directory of Cornwall: Kelly: 1923-: 197; The
Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Cornwall: London: 1951-1970:
103-4).

Listing NGR: SX2540564405

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St Martin's Church, Liskeard at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q48699703

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

• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)