Church of St John the Baptist, Bishop's Tawton facts for kids
The Church of St John the Baptist is a special church in the village of Bishop's Tawton in Devon. It's an Anglican church, which means it belongs to the Church of England. This church has been a Grade I listed building since 1965. This means it's a very important historical building. It is part of the Diocese of Exeter, which is a church area led by a bishop.
History of the Church
Some old records from the 1500s and 1600s say that the first bishop for Devon had his main church in Tawton. This was around the year 905. Devon's church area was created by splitting from another area called the Diocese of Sherborne.
However, by 909, the bishop's main church had moved to Crediton. Later, in 1050, it moved again to Exeter. We don't know for sure if the current Church of St John the Baptist is linked to that very old bishop's church.
It's not fully proven that Tawton was a bishop's home for a short time. But there are still parts of a small bishop's "palace" at Court Farm. This farm is right next to the church. Bishops used this home for hundreds of years, until the Tudor period.
About the Building
This church is built from stone. The stones are roughly placed on the north side. The chancel (the area around the altar) has squared stones. The tower and the nave (the main part of the church where people sit) were built in the 1300s.
The nave was updated in the 1400s when the north aisle (a side section) was added. The north aisle was fixed up in 1849. The chancel was rebuilt in 1864. More repairs happened between 1878 and 1882. All this work was done by a local architect named R.D. Gould.
Most of the church you see today was built in the 1400s. It stands where an older medieval chapel used to be. The church tower is special in Devon. It has an octagonal (eight-sided) spire from the 1300s with decorative stone carvings called crockets.
The first recorded Rector (the main priest) was John de Okehampton in 1285. But none of the church building from that time remains today. Over the years, many improvements have been made. These include a south doorway and a choir vestry.
The church also has a brass eagle lectern (a stand for reading). It has beautiful stained glass windows and a Bath stone pulpit (a raised platform for sermons) from the 1800s. The nave is separated from the side aisles by three archways with leaf-shaped carvings.
The rood screen (a decorative screen separating the nave from the chancel) is from the 1400s. It is not in very good condition. The baptismal font (where baptisms take place) is from the 1700s. The reredos (a screen behind the altar) is made of colorful glazed tiles.
Right next to the church is a war memorial. It is a Grade II listed building, meaning it's also historically important. It's made of carved granite. It looks like St Martin's Cross in Iona, Scotland. This memorial honors the people from Bishop's Tawton who died in World War I. It was officially revealed and dedicated in September 1920.
Monuments and Memorials
Inside the church, there are some very nice memorials. Many of them are for the Chichester family from Hall in Bishop's Tawton. In the chancel, there is a memorial for Lady Ursula Chichester (who died in 1635). It shows her as a kneeling figure, which was common for memorials back then.
There is also a memorial for the baby daughter of Charles and Rose Dart (who died in 1652). This one has a tiny statue of the baby, wrapped in cloths, below the writing. Other memorials include those for Sir Francis Chichester (1628–1698) and Sir John Chichester (1598–1669). There is also a stone slab in a wall for Anna Chichester (who died in 1644).
Gallery
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The pulpit is 19th-century
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The 18th-century baptismal font
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The war memorial is Grade II listed and was dedicated in 1920
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The Dart Memorial (died 1652)
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The memorial to Sir Francis Chichester (died 1698)
