Church of St Brendan, Brendon, Devon

Description

BRENDON CHURCH HILL
SS 74 NE
4/5 Church of St Brendan
25.2.65
- II
Parish church. Nave,chancel and south porch of 1738, tower rebuilt 1828; the whole
restored and north aisle, north transept and vestry added in 1873. Dressed and
roughly dressed stone with some brick dressings to vestry, the C19 work snecked,
with ashlar dressings. Slate roof, graded over porch and nave.
Plan: 4-bay nave with lean-to north aisle and south porch, 2-bay chancel with north
transept/organ chamber and lean-to north-east vestry, and west tower. C18 work in a
Gothic survival style and C19 work in a late C13 Gothic Revival style.
Tower: 4 stages. Chamfered plinth, clasping buttresses with chamfered copings and
obelisk finials to corners with small gables at base of each face. Belfry openings
of 2 louvred chamfered arched lights with cills and hoodmoulds with uncarved stops
(north side of belfry blind). Louvred chamfered lancet in third stage to south and
second-stage chamfered - arched 2-light south window with Y-tracery and hoodmould
with uncarved stops. Chamfered-arched south doorway with nail-studded boarded door
and hoodmould with uncarved stops. Small staircase windows in north-east buttress.
Nave: chamfered plinth. C19 left-hand window of two 4-centred hollow-chamfered
lights with carved spandrels and square head with hoodmould and pair of C19 windows
to right of 2 ogee trefoil-headed hollow-chamfered lights with carved spandrels,
square heads and returned hoodmoulds with carved square stops. Chamfered round-
arched south doorway between first and second windows from left has C19 nail-studded
boarder door with decorative wrought-iron strap hinges. Gabled porch with chamfered
plinth and round-arched entrance with voussoirs, rendered reveals lined as ashlar
and pair of late C19 or early C20 lattice wooden gates. Slate datestone above
entrance dated 1707 (probably relocated). Interior of porch with wooden side
benches and plastered ellipitcal arched barrel - vaulted roof with transverse ribs
and ridge rib.
North aisle: 1873. low windows of 2 trefoil-headed chamfered lights.
Chancel: parapeted gable-end with coping at cross at apex. Pair of chamfered
trefoil-headed lancets to south. Chamfered-arched east window of 3 trefoil-headed
lights (the centre one ogee) with 2 quatrefoils in tracery, hoodmould with carved
stops and stone arch over.
North transept: chamfered ashlar verge. North window of 2 chamfered lancet lights.
Vestry in angle of chancel and transept with chamfered stone verge, one-light wooden
casement to east with brick dressings and arched doorway to east with Gothic
panelled door.
Interior: nave walls stripped of plaster. Probably C18 plastered elliptical-arched
barrel-vaulted roof with chamfered wooden wall plate. Tall Gothic tower arch. C19
south window with chamfered depressed rear arches and chamfered cills. C19 three-
bay aisle arcade consisting of octagonal piers with moulded bases and capitals and
stilted double hollow-chamfered arches (dying into responds at each end). Aisle
with lean-to roof and windows with segmental hollow-chamfered rear arches and
chamfered cills. C19 hollow-chamfered chancel arch with chamfered reveals and
ovolo-moulded inner arch springing from moulded corbels. Chancel with snecked
dressed stone walls and flush ashlar band at cill level of east window. 3-bay roof
with hollow-chamfered wall plate, chamfered arch-braced collar trusses, trussed
rafters with collars, ashlar pieces, single purlins and diagonally - boarded soffit.
South windows with roll-moulded segmental rear arches and chamfered cills; east
window with roll-moulded rear arch. Continuous plain-chamfered arches between both
chancel and north aisle and north transept/organ chamber. Trussed rafter transept
roof with collars, ashlar pieces and chamfered wall plate and boarded soffit. North
window with hollow-chamfered rear arch and boarded vestry door with wrought-iron
strap hinges.
Fittings: mostly late C19 and early C20. Elaborately carved arcaded wooden
reredos, arcaded altar rails and carved choir stalls, all of the early C20 by
Brendon carpenter, John Floyd. Sedile beneath south-east window. C19 organ beneath
arch to north. Carved wooden lectern by Joseph Totterdell of Brendon. Polygonal
stone pulpit with traceried panels and circular stem, given in 1873 (see brass
plaque on stem). Pine pews. C12 stone font on octagonal step, with chamfered
square base, circular stem and scalloped square bowl; C19 ironbound wooden cover.
Further old font or pillar pisina (probably assembled from separate parts) with
carved circular bowl, carved circular stem and circular base. Painted royal coat of
arms on board, above south door. Late C19 stained glass in nave south windows and
chancel east and south windows. An inscription records that the east window was
given by John Crick in memory of Richard Crick (d. March 23 1884). It also states
that the reredos was given by John Crick (possibly not the present reredos).
The church stands in an isolated position high up to the west of the village. It
replaced a church of C12 foundation at Cheriton (in the parish to the south west of
the present building) which was abandoned in the early C18 and of which little now
remains. It has also been said that this church was dedicated to St Mary the Virgin.
Sources: N Pevsner Buildings of England, North Devon, p.61 Beatrix F. Cresswell,
Notes on Devon Churches, Deanery of Shirwell, p. 45 - 53; church guide.

Listing NGR: SS7500447731

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Church of St Brendan

A Grade II Listed Building in Brendon, Devon

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Description

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