Description

SS 62 SE & SS 72 SW GEORGE NYMPTON

4 + 5/69 Church of St George

20.2.67

GV II*

Parish church. C15, tower built 1673, restoration and partial rebuilding of 1882 by
E.H. Harbottle. Stone rubble nave and aisle, snecked stone chancel and porch,
Flemish bond brick tower; slate roof.
Plan: Nave, chancel, 3-bay north arcade; west tower, south porch; north-east vestry.
The tower was built by George Harris, it is not clear from the documentation what it
replaced although late C16 bells existed (church guide). The 1882 restoration
involved rebuilding the east and south walls of the chancel, replacing the nave and
chancel roofs, rebuilding the porch, opening out the tower arch, tracery replacement
and restoration of the nave bench ends. Harbottle's restoration was in the
Perpendicular style to match the existing medieval fabric.
Exterior: Chancel with diagonal buttresses, 1882 3-light Perpendicular traceried east
window and 2-light south window. The nave (south side) has 2 Perpendicular 3-light
traceried windows, much repaired, the western window with carved medieval label stops
including one which appears to show a pair of wrestlers. The north aisle has a 3-
light Perpendicular traceried east window and 2 square-headed, probably early C16
north windows with traceried lights. The C19 gabled vestry has a 2-light window with
a segmental arched light on the west side and a segmental arched stone doorframe.
The west tower is extremely interesting for its date: wholly Gothic in form with a
stone plinth, diagonal buttresses with set-offs and battlements, all in hand-made
bricks which were made in the parish by James Moore who was paid £22 5s 4d. Round-
headed belfry openings have pierced boards in the heads below louvres; there is a
rectangular opening on the south side at bellringer's stage and, instead of a west
door, a cusped lancet:- this is probably a C19 remodelling of a plainer opening.
1882 snecked stone gabled porch with a trefoil-headed niche in the gable and a
moulded, rounded outer doorframe. The interior of the porch has an arched brace roof
and an unusual inner doorframe with a deeply-moulded triangular head, possibly C13 in
date. The inner door is probably C16 with a massive lock box and a latch.
Interior: Plastered walls. Asymmetrical C19 chancel arch at the junction of the nave
and chancel roofs with a trumpeting angel painted on the arch which is carried on
paired stone corbels. C19 ceiled wagons to the nave and chance, C15 or C16 ceiled
wagon to the north aisle. 3 bay Beerstone arcade with steep moulded arches, piers
with corner shafts and boldly-carved foliage caps; plain chamfered tower arch with a
rounded head and runout stops.
The chancel has early C20 dado panelling; C19 commandment boards in round-headed
frames; C19 tiling incorporating the symbols of the evangelists and a C19 trefoil-
headed piscina with a hood mould and finial. Pulpit, lectern, reading desk and
chancel seats all memorials of 1880, the chancel seats with poppyheads the pulpit an
open traceried timber drum on a stone plinth. The font is a probably C15 octangonal
bowl, the stem decorated with blind tracery with an C18 ogival timber font cover.
The nave benches are C19, carefully incorporating medieval fragments found during the
1882 restoration.
Monuments 3 wall monuments to members of the Karslake family: 2 matching early C19
white marble monuments are signed Kendall; the third is a fine monument to William
Karslake, died 1769 in coloured and white Italian marble with a weeping cherub
leaning on a sarcophagus. There are other late C18 and early C19 monuments.

Church Guide (n.d.).
Devon Nineteenth Century Churches Project.

Listing NGR: SS7003322967

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17532688

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

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)