Church Heritage Record 615268

Central tower, nave, north and south transepts, chancel, choir vestry, flower vestry, sacristy; attached hall to the south-east with foyer, kitchen and lavatories.

Neo- and Mesolithic finds have been discovered at nearby Brixham, but there is no reason to think that the church site is of special archaeological significance. No previous building is known to have existed on the site. No known burials. The archaeological potential of the site is likely to be low. Mature trees; no known designations.

Sir Edward Brantwood Maufe, 1882-1974, won the competition to design the new Guildford Cathedral in 1932; it was completed in 1961, to general admiration. Elected RA in 1947; member of the Royal Fine Arts Commission 1946-53; winner of the Royal Gold Medal in Architecture in 1944; and knighted in 1954 for his services to the War Graves Commission, to which he was first principle architect UK and then chief architect and artistic adviser.

Maufe’s original plans for the church had gables to the N vestries and tracery to the nave windows. In 2011, the late MEP Graham Booth (UKIP) donated £8,000 to pay for the repainting of the church shortly before his death.

To west end, flight of ten steps to west entrance with metal railings with lamp standards leads up to deep west porch, divided horizontally by deep lintel, with double wooden doors below and (war memorial) window above, and pitched roof.

Three bay nave, the bays defined externally by buttresses on which the eaves of the pitched slate roof rest. Tall lancet window-opening to each bay, with wooden frames divided into leaded lights.

Central crossing tower. Three louvers to the west, and east, two to the north and south, in pointed-arched openings. Additionally, to the west, a small square window just above the gable of the nave roof, and to the north and south, three square windows just above the transept roofs. There is a clock on the north side. There are buttresses to the north and south; that to the north east is a clasping buttress to accommodate a staircase, with several small square-topped window openings. The tower rises to a parapet, within which is a short, pyramidal steeple topped with metal cross.

Lean-to transepts to north and south. On the north side, the transept extends to the east end. Its western two bays are divided by buttresses on which the eaves rest; in each bay is a square window. Its eastern two bays are not buttressed, and the north-east corner of the roof is supported on a stepped corbel. At the mid-point of the north side of the north transept is a square-topped doorway. In the west wall of the north transept is a square-topped doorway with ramped-access; in the east wall of the transept is a square-topped window. The south transept extends no further than the tower; it is buttressed to the west but not the south, and the eaves are supported on stepped corbels; it features three square-topped windows.

The chancel is taller than the nave, its pitched roof rising almost to the height of the tower louvers. To north and south, three small square windows at clerestory level and one tall lancet-like window-opening at east end with wooden frames divided into leaded lights; at east end, eaves rest on stepped corbels. To west, one circular window; near ground level, foundation stone.

On south side between chancel and south transept, flat-roofed link to gabled church hall. Entrance via link on west side, up four steps; or direct entrance to hall on west side, up six steps or via wheelchair ramp.

Entrance from west via paired wooden doors, panelled, with topmost panels divided into four and glazed, with gilded cross motif on inner face. This gives onto draft lobby with wooden doors to N and S, and a screen with leaded glazing to E, with central paired doors with cross motif. Within, nave, crossing and transepts have level parquet floor with loose wooden chairs; south transept is carpeted. Font placed centrally at W end of nave. Walls painted white throughout; panelled nave ceiling painted with large cross of St George (paid for by the local MEP, Graham Booth (UKIP) in 2011 shortly before his death); beams of ceiling at crossing painted red, with central painted image of St George and the Dragon; and chancel rafters and beams (the latter supported on stepped corbels) painted red.  Wide pointed arches between nave and chancel and crossing, and (shorter) between crossing and transepts. Paired ambos either side of chancel arch. Chancel and sanctuary are carpeted. Two steps up to choir, a further step at the communion rails, and two steps up into sanctuary. Organ on N side of chancel; one niche to N and two to S sides of chancel, the easternmost on the S side containing sedilia. C15/16 ‘piscina’ housing aumbry in sanctuary S wall: once thought to be ecclesiastical in origin, the parish has been advised by Historic England that it is more likely to have been a medieval bowl used for washing the hands before meals, from Kirkham House – it is the pair of another sent to Paignton Parish Church. Square-topped doors to N and S of chancel; that N leads through to staircase up to organ loft and tower; that to S leads to vestry, thence to link (containing lavatories) to church hall.