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Summary

St. Loye's Chapel was built in 1881 and is the last surviving example in Exeter of a school-chapel, a flexible, dual-purpose building accommodating both a fully furnished church and school within the same physical structure. This unusual building type was desvised in the late 19th century as a tool for the church's missionary and education work into growing centres of population. Built in the Old English Style, a less-harsh version of the Gothic style which became popular for schools in the late 19th century. Constructed of dark red brick with decorative bands of lighter coloured brick and a decorative red tiled roof. The building ceased to function as a place of worship in the late 20th century. In more recent years it was occupied by a day nursery and has now been converted into dwellings.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CHAPEL (Built, XIX - 1881 AD to 1881 AD)
• SCHOOL (Built, XIX - 1881 AD to 1881 AD)

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Building marked as School with a pump in the yard. The map shows the original form of the building with the nave and chancel aligned south-west to north-east with the porch and small classroom projecting on the south-east side.

Parker, R. W., 2009, St. Loye's Church, West Wonford, Exeter. A Late 19th Century School-Chapel (Report - Survey). SDV348177.

The former St. Loyes Church was built as a combined chapel and school in the late 19th century to serve the growing population of Wonford. It has ceased to function as a place of worship by the late 20th century and in more recent years was occupied by a day nursery. It has now been converted into dwellings.
The church building is constructed of dark red brick with decorative bands of lighter coloured brick and some dressings of red an white stone with brick butresses, under plain tiled roofs with decorative bands of scalloped of fish scale tiles.
The 'nave' or school room and the chancel are both contained under a single roof with a level ridge and gables to east and west. The bellcote which formerly crowned the ridge has now been removed. Other decorative elements such as the finial on the eastern gable, which is likely to have been a cross, have also disappeared.
A granite block at the base of the central buttress on the west elevation is probably the foundation stone, laid in July 1881, although it has no inscription. The names of the contributors to the project were sealed in a glass phial placed beneath it. The west gable has two arched windows either side of this buttres, their trefoiled heads are fitted with decorative glass. The north elevation of the nave has trefoil-headed timber framed windows while the chancel has a two-light Gothic window with Bath stone dressings. Its ogee-headed lights also have the remains of decorative glazing.
On the south side of the nave, under a separate roof, is a timber-framed porch which ocupied the angle between the main body of the building and a southern transeptal projection which operated as a small classroom. At the junction of the porch and classroom is a prominent chimneystack. The porch is of 7 bays each now infilled with a small nine-paned window. These were probably inserted in the 20th century as it seems that the porch was originally unglazed
A larger projecting wing was added against the south wall of the chancel circa 1904 to provide additional classrooms which resulted in the blocking of one of the original chancel windows. Its design is sympathetic to the original building but does not have the buttresses or the other more overtly gothic elements. A triangular porch was added to the angle between this and the small classroom in the 20th century. To the east of the large classroom is a modern extension.
The interior of the nave is dominated by an impressive open roof structure. This is a three bay roof with large A-frame trusses with high collargs and king posts flanked by curved braces. The lower ends of the trusses rest on buttresses projecting from the side walls between the windows. A low blocked recess in the south wall was probably a fireplace.
The east wall of the nave is open to the chancel through the chancel arch. The chancel arch structure is repeated behind and projecting posts from both supported the western and eastern sides of the bellcote. The remains of a mechanism devised to assist with ringing the bell survive above the chancel arch. The chancel arch also has the remains of its screen which could be closed by shutters when the building was not in use for divine service. The rood above the screen was removed comparitively recently but the other furnishings in the nave were taken out a long time ago. However, they are described in the newspaper reports of the opening ceremony as comprising convertible iron and timber benches complete with book rests, the backs of which would flip over to form desks. The desk tops were also adjustable and could be rotated and placed together to form tea tables for social functions.
The roof of the chancel is an open timber roof with a central arch-braced roof truss. Within the roof are a number of pulleys possibly connected with former light fittings. Parker describes the decorations of the chancel as 'sumptuous', many supplied by leaders in the field of church decoration, including a reredos carved by Harry Hems. None of the furnishings remain.
St. Loye's Chapel is the last surviving example in Exeter of a school-chapel, a flexible, dual-purpose building accommodating both a fully furnished church and school within the same physical structure. This unusual building type was desvised in the late 19th century as a tool for the church's missionary and education work into growing centres of population.
Although modest in scale, it is an attractive and richly-detailed building which communicates its purpose thorugh its architectural design. There is, for example, a clear hierarchy apparent between the traceried timber windows of the secular 'nave' and the elaborate stone dressings of the chancel. The windows of the original classroom lack the tracery.
The building is described in contemporary newspaper reports as being either 'late Gothic' or 'late Decorated' in style. However, the use of red bricks, the shaped red tiles and the exposed timber fascias of the eaves together with other decorative details show the influence of the 'Queen Anne' or Old English Style' developed in the third quarter of the 19th century as a more 'domestic' alternative and became popular for schools.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

Bulding marked as Ruby Court.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV5584 - Historic Building Recording at the former St. Loye's Church, West Wonford, Exeter

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