Description

SS84NW OARE CP OARE VILLAGE

2/39 Church of St Mary

22.5.69 II*

-

Parish church. C15 nave and inner chancel, outer chancel added and tower rebuilt mid C19. Local stone coursed rubble
C19 work, earlier parts roughcast, 3 separate slate roofs, no coped verges, decorative ridge tiles. West tower, 3-bay
nave, one bay inner chancel, one bay outer chancel. Crenellated 3-stage tower, unbuttressed, string courses, single
light louvred bell opening, 2-light west window under square hoodmould and pointed relieving arch, pointed arch west
door; three Cl9 2 and 3-light wooden mullioned windows to nave, lancet to inner chancel, unlit south side, mullioned
and transomed 2-light east window, 2-light window on north wall of outer chancel, trefoil-headed lancet to inner
chancel, nave unlit; gabled single storey porch, semi-circular headed opening, inner chamfered pointed arch wooden
doorway, perhaps C16 with C19 door. Interior: rendered. No chancel arch, bosses from roof reset on cambered beam to
inner chancel; unmoulded pointed tower arch. Barrel vault to nave and inner chancel, Cl9 outer chancel roof. Norman
circular font. C18 box pews, readers desk and pulpit. Unusual piscina in the form of a man's head clasped between 2
hands, possibly C15. Good collection of painted C18 slate tablets to Spurry family. Ten Commandments painted on two
wooden boards. Unususal painted wooden panel inscribed Peter Spurrye, Churchwarden 1718 and thought to represent
Moses. R D Blackmore's grandfather was rector here 1809-42 and the church attracts aany visitors as the scene of the
marriage of Jan Ridd in Blackmore's book "Lorna Doone". (Photograph in NMR; Allen, Churches and Chapels of Exmoor,
1974).

Listing NGR: SS8020747311

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Mary at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17556082

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

• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)