Church of St Mary the Virgin, Pilton facts for kids
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The Church of St Mary the Virgin in Pilton is an old Anglican church. It serves the Pilton area of Barnstaple in Devon. This church has been a special Grade I listed building since 1951. It is part of the Diocese of Exeter.
History and Outside Look
The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a big local church. It used to be part of the Benedictine Pilton Priory. This priory was started around 925-940. It was like a small branch of Malmesbury Abbey.
The priory closed in 1533 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Chichester Family then took over the church. The church building you see today is very old. Parts of it are from the 13th century. It was officially opened in 1259. Other parts were built in the 15th century. Some repairs and rebuilding happened in the 17th century.
The church is made from local purple, grey, and brown slate stone. It has sandstone decorations. The roofs are made of slate. You walk to the church through lovely almshouses. These buildings look like they are from the Tudor period. They were built in 1849.
The church tower and the South side were built when the Priory was still active. On the North side, you can still see where the old monastery buildings were. The cloister, which is an open walkway, ran along the nave. This is why the North side windows are high up. You can also see signs of other taller buildings next to the North tower.
The church has eight bells that can be rung together. Some of these bells are from 1712. The tower was rebuilt in 1696. This was because it was damaged during the English Civil War. An inscription on the porch by Robert Nutting tells us this. The church also had more rebuilding work from 1845 to 1850.
Inside the Church
The North side windows have plain glass. But you can still see small pieces of old colored glass. These are in the fancy stone work at the top. The main part of the church, the nave and chancel, were added around 1320 to 1330. We know this from old records. The Bishop of Exeter, Walter de Stapledon, helped pay for the chancel in 1311.
There is a special screen called a parclose screen. It leads into the South East chapel, which is called the Raleigh Chapel. This screen has three sections. It is beautifully carved with old Gothic and Renaissance styles. It has an 'R' carved on it for Raleigh. It was likely moved here from Raleigh Manor after it was taken down in the 1700s.
The stone pulpit is from about 1550. It has decorated panels with carved Tudor roses. You can still see some of its original color. The pulpit also has a Jacobean sounding board above it. An unusual iron arm sticks out from the side. This arm is probably from the Elizabethan era. It used to hold an hourglass to time the sermons. In 1616, a new hourglass was bought. In 1646, a half-hour glass was bought. This shows that sermons became shorter over time.
The baptismal font is a plain, eight-sided stone bowl. It has a beautiful cover. A famous expert, Nikolaus Pevsner, thought the cover was put together during the Elizabethan era. The font itself is also from about 1550. It stands under a fancy canopy. This canopy is made from old Gothic and Renaissance carvings.
The communion rail is also from the Elizabethan era. The altar table has pull-out leaves. It is from the late 1500s and was fixed up in 1985.
The rood screen separates the chancel and Raleigh Chapel from the nave and South side. It has lost its top parts. The lower panels once showed the Apostles. Some of these images have been restored. Thomas Martyn paid for these images when he died in 1510. Later, the images were covered with paint. In Victorian times, they were stained brown. Restoring them is very expensive. So, the work has stopped for now. But the goal is to restore more panels in the future.
Above a narrow doorway in the chancel, there is a plaque. This doorway once led to a chapel and a small room. A recluse, someone who lives alone, lived there in 1329. The Royal Arms from 1707 are those of Queen Anne. They are painted on boards and are on the North wall. You can also see a piece of a medieval wall painting on the West wall.
Special Monuments
The church has some very important monuments. There is a stone monument for Sir John Chichester (who died in 1569). It is at the West end of the South East chapel. It has columns and decorative carvings.
On the North wall of the chancel, you can find a beautiful monument. It still has its original colors. This monument is for Sir Robert Chichester (who died in 1627). It shows two rows of life-size figures kneeling. These include children facing a double prayer desk. The South side has a large wall monument for Christopher Lethbridge (who died in 1713). It has detailed decorations and carved angel heads.
