St Mary And St Martin

tower probably 1259 (dedication date)

south aisle funded by a bequest of 1544 but said not to have been completed until 1582 (Cresswell).

C14 dressings red sandstone, other dressings granite and freestone

Although a church has existed on the site since at least 1225 it was probably rebuilt prior to a dedication of 1259 and the Early English tower may date from this period.

The medieval details of the chancel are C14 Decorated and the church was probably rebuilt at this date as a cruciform plan, the south transept disappearing when the late Perpendicular 7-bay south aisle (1-bay to the chancel) was added.

There is a reference to a south door and porch chamber at the west end of the south aisle added in 1574 (Church Guide), although Cresswell states that the principal entrance was on the north side until the 1840s restoration.

In the late C20 a glass screen was inserted below the west gallery creating a west end social area.

north and south medieval Decorated 2-light windows

2 bays from the west a shallow-moulded granite Tudor arched C19 doorway, 2-light Decorated west window, 3-light C19 Decorated east window.

5-bay late Perpendicular rood screen (Pevsner 'B' type), the coving no longer exists, with C19 frieze and cresting.

Paintings of alternate apostles with sentences of the Creed and prophets with scrolls.

3-bay parclose with square-headed traceried fenestration, a vine-carved cornice and heavy cresting.

C19 chancel fittings include a good stone reredos with tiling, altar rails and choir stalls which re-use medieval bench ends and carved frontals.

Nave fittings include a stone drum pulpit dated 1897, corbelled out from a flight of stone steps with traceried panels and a brattished cornice.

C19 timber eagle lectern.

Unusual font with a large polished C19 granite bowl, the Purbeck stem with a cable moulding may be C13.

SX8679 : St Martin & St Mary, Chudleigh, Devon - Font

© John Salmon

Some late C15/early C16 bench ends with 2 tiers of tracery, others are early C19 panelled benches, some with surviving doors.

Monument to Sir Pierce Courtenay died 1607 in the chancel: a freestone chest with kneeling figures facing one another across a prayer desk, flanked by fluted columns with an entablature and pediment some colour (possibly ancient) survives.

Numerous C17 ledger stones used as floor slabs, numerous C18 and C19 wall monuments.

Important set of C19 stained glass.

Several important C19 glass makers represented in the nave and south aisle, including the Hardman Company and Lavers and Westlake.

The C19 glass is an important set.