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Summary

Late 13th or early 14th century, enlarged and partly rebuilt in 15th or early 16th century. The chancel and transepts appear to belong to the first period; the south transept, which is set at a marked angle to the rest of the church, may be still earlier. Body of church restored in 1856 and 1884, the tower in 1908.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (I) 1240794: CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL

Other References/Statuses

• Church of England HER: 5120
• National Monuments Record: SX77NE28
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 898202
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX77NE/16
• Old Listed Building Ref (I): 439155

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• PARISH CHURCH (Constructed, XIII to Edwardian - 1250 AD (Between) to 1908 AD (Between))
• SUNDIAL (XVIII to Mid 20th Century - 1800 AD to 1950 AD?)

Full description

Keyser, C. E., 1898, On the Panel Paintings of Saints on the Devonshire Screens, 183-122 (Article in Serial). SDV134840.

Bligh Bond, F., 1902, Devonshire Screens and Rood Lofts, 466 (Article in Serial). SDV15462.

Rood screen. St. Michael's church. Fine carved screen to nave and aisles, good condition. Tracery of arcades of perpendicular type. Cornice enrichments of good design. Groining missing. Parclose north and south of chancel.

Thompson, A. H., 1913, Church Architecture in Devon, 458, 467, 471, 479 (Article in Serial). SDV15387.

Watkin, H. R., 1926 - 1927, Granite Tomb Cover with Incised Cross, 270 (Article in Serial). SDV282842.

Granite slab memorials dating from the 17th century here. Author also notes that a hoard of silver coins was found while removing the north wall of the cemetery in 1892 and asks whether they were claimed by the Lord of the Manor.

Cresswell, B. F., 1927, Devonshire Churches: The Buildings and Builders, 158 (Article in Serial). SDV124362.

A fairly complete 15th century Devon church, with nave, north and south aisles, north and south transepts, chancel and chancel aisles, west tower, north and south porch, and a priest's doorway in the chancel.

Fryer Cornelius, C., 1946, Ancient Devon Parish Churches within a Ten Mile Radius of Newton Abbot, 123-152 (Article in Serial). SDV312246.

Fryer Cornelius, C., 1947, Fittings, Furnishings and Finishings of the Ancient Devon Parish Churches within a Ten Mile Radius of Newton Abbot, 86 (Article in Serial). SDV312247.

Choir stalls. Ilsington Parish Church, fragments of choir stalls, some fine stall ends finishing in poupee heads now converted into a reading desk.

Fryer Cornelius, C., 1951, Mediaeval Effigies and other Sepulchral Memorials in the Parish Churches within a Ten-Mile Radius of Newton Abbot, 217-234 (Article in Serial). SDV339049.

Pevsner, N., 1952, The Buildings of England: South Devon, 185 (Monograph). SDV336217.

St. Michael. Parish Church. 'A handsome group with the fragments of the church house built into a row of cottages and the new lychgate. West tower roughcast, unbuttressed with stair turret. Chancel and south transept below to an E. E. Church, probably of cruciform plan. Nave and chancel have a wagon roof. Effigy of a lady, c1300.

Crowley, J., 1961, Sundials in South Devon, 276 (Article in Serial). SDV4705.

Parish Church. Of bronze. A bad timekeeper. Flat on the wall over the south porch. Good condition and pleasing. The sun has rays like leaves, and the figures are quaintly crocked. Motto: vigila oraque. Only dial in Devon with gothic lettering. Undated.

Wills, R. N., 1968-1970, Ilsington Church Bells, 218-220 (Article in Serial). SDV282614.

History of bells and description given

Wills, R. N., 1974-1977, An Ilsington Leger Stone, 22-23 (Article in Serial). SDV282615.

Department of Environment, 1986, Ilsington, 64-65 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV282617.

Church of St. Michael. Late 13th or early 14th century, enlarged and partly rebuilt in 15th or early 16th century. The chancel and transepts appear to belong to the first period; the south transept, which is set at a marked angle to the rest of the church, may be still earlier. Body of church restored in 1856 and 1884, the tower in 1908.
See List for full details.

Cherry, B. + Pevsner, N., 1989, The Buildings of England: Devon, 507 (Monograph). SDV325629.

Waterhouse, R. E., 1991, The Church Houses of South Devon: an archaeological survey, 32 (Report - Survey). SDV7736.

The church is large, having its full complement of nave, aisles, transepts, chancel and tower. There is a crosswing, composed of a timber arched vault. An oak rood screen divides the chancel from the body of the church. Within and without the church are many finely carved granite table tombs and stones all dating to the 17th century.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

Depicted on the modern mapping.

English Heritage, 2015, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV357602.

ILSINGTON ILSINGTON SX 77 NE 3/111 Church of St Michael 23.8.1955 GV I
Parish church. Late C13 or early C14, enlarged and partly rebuilt in C15 or early C16. The chancel and transepts appear to belong to the first period; the south transept, which is set at a marked angle to the rest of the cnurch, may be still earlier. Body of church restored in 1856 and 1884, the tower in 1908. Built of stone covered mostly with roughcast; the exposed south porch and west ends of the aisles are of granite and slatestone rubble, the tower of coursed granite rubble. Slated roofs. Nave, chancel, north and south aisles, north and south transepts, north and south chancel chapels, south porch, west tower. The south aisle and chancel chapel have similar Perpendicular granite windows with 2-centred arches, only the mullions appearing to be restorations. The north aisle and chancel chapel have a matching set of quite different Perpendicular granite windows with 4-centred arches, the centre light in each window slightly taller than the other two. The aisles and chancel chapels on both sides have battlemented parapets. The south side has clasping buttresses while the north side has buttresses between the aisle windows and an angle buttress on the chancel chapel. At the north-west corner of the north aisle is a 5-sided stair turret with a single slit window. The south transept hasa single-light lancet window of limestone in its west wall; in the south wall is a large Perpendicular granite window with a round arch, and in the east wall a similar window with a pointed arch, the tracery and mullions restored in limestone. The north transept has Decorated limestone windows, all of them apparently C19 restorations; in the west wall, partly blocked by the north aisle, is the outline of a former doorway with pointed arch. The chancel has Decorated limestone windows largely, if not wholly restored; the east window has 3 lights, the north and south windows 2 lights. At the west end of the south wall of the chancel, extending into a recess cut into the transept wall, is a 2-light granite window of the late C16 or C17; it is flat-headed with hollow-moulded mullions. Beneath it, splayed across the angle between chancel and transept, is a plain granite doorway with an elliptical arch. The south porch is 2-storeyed with clasping buttresses and battlemented parapet. In the front is a large heavily- moulded doorway with a straight hood-mould; the inner arch has a 4-centred head with quatrefoils in the spandrels. Above it in the second storey is a pair of segmental-headed recesses with carved spandrels; each has a straight hood-mould with square terminals, those on the left-hand recess bearing letters believed to be SA for St Anne. Above these, centrally placed, is a similar recess with richly carved hood-mould; it contains a C20 statue of the Virgin and Child, brought from Bruges. Beneath the group of recesses is a copper or bronze sundial. There is only one window in the upper storey; this is in the west wall, of 1 light and segmental- arched like the recesses. Fixed to the south-west angle,of the porch is a carved slate headstone of the late C18 having a winged cherub-head at the top.
The interior of the porch has stone benches at either side. The moulded upper-floor beams, wholly restored, intersect; within the panels are the original moulded joists with bar-stops. The doorway into the church is of granite with a 2-centred arch; it has a three-quarter-round moulding flanked by 2 hollows with asymmetrical pyramid-stops at the foot. On the floor in front of the doorway is a granite tomb- slab of 1672 with 4 lines of verse carved in the centre. The 3-stage tower has a battlemented parapet and a 5-sided stair turret with slit windows on the south face. in the west face is a chamfered granite doorway with a 2-centred arch. Above it, still in the lowest stage, is a Perpendicular window of 3 lights; this has old granite jambs, but the mullions and tracery are of limestone and probably a restoration. The ringing chamber has a single-light window with a pointed arch in the east face. The bellchamber has a 2-light opening in each face except for that on the south, which has a single-light opening at each side of the stair-turret; the lights have pointed arches. Interior: nave has an arcade of 5 granite arches at either side, the fourth arch from the west forming a bridge over the transept crossing while the fifth arch extends into the chancel, opening into the chancel chapel. The almost rounded arches are carried on piers with heavily moulded capitals and 4 attached shafts having hollow mouldings between them. Plain tower arch with chamfered imposts. Tower staircase has upper and lower stone doorways with chamfered 2-centred arches having diagonal-cut stops. In the south wall of south transept is a piscina with a chamfered 2-centred arch. In south wall of south chancel chapel is a stone staircase to former rood loft, the lower doorway (the only one visible) round-arched and with rebates for a door opening outwards. Small stone staircase to room over porch has a plain doorway, set well above floor level, with a 4-centred arch; the room itself is featureless, with a C19 or C20 roof. Nave, transepts and chancel have wagon roofs. Those of the nave and transepts appear to be C15 or early c16, the nave roof having fine carved bosses. Over the crossing is a particularly fine ribbed wooden vault of the same date, the ribs springing from shaped granite corbels. At the base of each rib is a niche with cinquefoiled head and containing a carved figure; halfway up is an angel with wings unfurled and at the apex a large carved boss. Until C19 the ribs are said to have been painted blue and the bosses red. The north aisle and chancel chapel have flat roofs with moulded intersecting beams; the corresponding roofs on the south are simpler C19 imitations. Fragment of tooth-moulding re-used in north chancel chapel. Fittings. Medieval octagonal font of granite, with plain plinth, shaft and bowl. Traceried oak rood screen across nave and aisles, considerably restored and with barely a trace of colour left. Traceried parclose screens, better preserved but also without colour. In front of rood screen a clergy stall made up of carved medieval bench-ends with poppy-head finials. In the chancel 2 seats made up from simpler bench-ends. On the chancel floor a mosaic of fragments of medieval glazed tiles. East window of north chancel chapel has fragments of medieval coloured glass. South window of south transept has stained glass window of 1888 described by Pevsner as "in a Crane-Arts-and-Crafts style". Monuments. In north transept, in a recess with C19 Gothic canopy, mutilated limestone effigy of a recumbent woman, believed to be C14. Several good carved granite and slate tomb-slabs of C17. One good C16 tomb-slab, probably of limestone, in chancel. At south end of nave a carved paving-stone, possibly part of a medieval tomb-slab. Bells. 4th, 5th and tenor bells cast by Thomas Bilbie, 1797. Cast-iron bell-frame. Sources Church guide, N Pevsner, South Devon, 1952, p.185. Rev. J D H Patch, History of Parish of Ilsington, n.d. Kelly's Directory of Devonshire, 1910.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV6033 - TOMB (Early Medieval to XVII - 1066 AD to 1699 AD)
• FDV6032 - EFFIGY (XIII to XIV - 1300 AD to 1399 AD)
• FDV6034 - BELL (XVIII to Late 20th Century - 1797 AD to 1979 AD)

Associated Events

• EDV2973 - The Church Houses of South Devon: an archaeological survey

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