Church Heritage Record 615305

Cruciform plan. Lean-to west porch. Broad 6-bay nave with clerestory (2 western bays form narthex with WCs, kitchen and office to north, meeting room to south) and narrow north and south aisle passages. Chancel with north organ chamber. South transept with Lady Chapel. Clergy vestry in south-east corner and choir vestry in north-east corner, linked by an ambulatory. Boiler room beneath south-east corner.

Newton Abbot was founded by the abbots of Torre Abbey from where its name is derived. There was a market by 1246. Little survives of the medieval town following rapid expansion in the C19th and unsympathetic modern development. There is archaeological evidence of C15th houses and workshops to the south-west of the site.

The site where the church was built was once partly occupied by Abbotsbury House which was demolished to make way for its construction. Its former outbuildings spread to the north-east. Also since redeveloped.

Devon and Dartmoor have a detailed HER which should be referred to ahead of any development work at the site.

No burials on the site and low archaeological potential.

Designed by Edmund Harold Sedding (1863-1921) in 1904-6, nephew of John Dando Sedding. A £100 grant from the Incorporated Church Buildings Society was awarded in 1906 towards 570 free sittings. An inscribed memorial stone to him is set within the east wall of the nave. The church was not completed to his original vision, missing a south-west tower with steeple and additional sculptural embellishment.

C15th window tracery from St Mary’s Chapel on Highweek street was reset in the east wall. Also known as Newton Bushel chapel of ease, the building dates to the C15th and was enlarged in 1826.  It seems the chapel became disused following the construction of the new church, having been unable to expand itself due to a restricted site. It is Grade II listed and has since been converted to St Mary’s Court sheltered housing.

The interior of St Mary’s Abbotsbury was reordered with a narthex/hall area inserted at the west end, and pews removed, in the 1990s. Arches, and the use of a Baptistery space, at the west end were also removed.

A monumental building that was never completed to the architect’s original vision with a south-west tower.

At the west end, a lean-to porch has doorways to north and south (not used), and modern glazed doors to the west. Niches in the stone work on the west ends of the aisles were intended to contain figures. Buttresses and octagonal stone turrets to either side. Metal hopper heads display the date 1905.

To north and south sides, flying buttresses define each bay with lean-to aisles at ground level, pierced by 3-light windows, and a clerestory above with 2-light windows. Towards the east end, gabled transept roofs branch away from the pitched nave roof to north and south. The north and south elevations of the transepts contain 4-light windows with perpendicular tracery. Above each buttress, within the lower slopes of the nave roof, are truncated octagonal stone plinths that were intended to support pinnacles – never completed.

The chancel is contained within the same roof space as the nave, though it is defined differently inside. At the east end lean-to roofs cover a rectangular extension containing the vestries to north and south sides, linked by an ambulatory. The chancel has tall 2-light windows to north and south, and in the east wall a 3-light windows positioned between two 2-light windows.

Due to a change in ground level, doors in the vestry and ambulatory, as well as south transept, have stairs rising up to them. A small wooden bellcote is fixed to the east side of the north transept and contains a single bell. A boiler room is beneath the south-east corner.

The interior is accessed through doors at the west end, which enter into a porch with WCs to the north, before opening into the 1990s narthex. This is a large area occupying the western 2-bays of the nave, and is used as a church hall. It has an inserted ceiling and is partitioned from the nave by glazed wood screens. A kitchen and office is situated within the former north aisle area, and meeting rooms within the former south aisle area. The space above is accessed from a simple metal staircase in the north aisle of the nave and is used for storage.

Glazed doors open into the nave which has a level woodblock floor laid in herringbone formation. It is seated with upholstered wood chairs. The walls are of smooth, exposed stone. The large west window, designed by E H Sedding, has ornate tracery, chunky mullions, and circular patterns to the leading. The majority of the windows have clear glazing.

Each bay has a 2-light clerestory window recessed set back in a deep reveal. A continuous stone band punctuated with carved fleurons runs around the building beneath the clerestory level. The aisle arcades (formed of octagonal piers) are beneath, with an attached column between the spandrel of each arch rising to provide a corbel to the structure of the roof above, formed of a boarded barrel vault with moulded purlins and rafters. Each bay has an original4-light wrought-iron chandelier, with scrolled elements, fitted above the apex of each arch.  

The narrow passage aisles are ceiled by boarded roofs and each bay is separated by a transverse arch. Within the north and south walls, each has a 3-light window.  The north aisle has 3 stone steps at the east end leading upto the vestries, and at the west end, a staircase is behind a curtained wooden screen to access the area above the hall. The south aisle has a children’s play tent positioned at the west end and at the east end steps rise beneath a carved wood screen into the Lady Chapel.

At the east end of the nave, a modern, carpeted, 2-step dais rises to meet the original concave marble step of the chancel, beneath a high pointed chancel arch, which has across it an ornate carved screen. A huge carved pulpit stands to the north side, within the nave. The floor of the chancel is paved in marble. To north and south sides high quality, carved oak choir stalls are positioned on raised timber platforms.

An open timber screen with curtains behind, separates the north of the choir from vestries beyond, and organ pipes above. Beyond the stalls to the south side is an open timber screen leading through to the Lady Chapel. The east wall of the chapel is panelled to the east end with a central canopied section above the altar.  There is a simple altar, altar rails, and simple oak benches. Cast-iron wall mounted radiators. A door in the south exits the church, whilst a door in the east accesses the clergy vestry.

The sanctuary floor rises by a step. The floor is paved in a geometric pattern with contrasting red and green marbles. The altar is raised by another 3 steps.  Ornate wood panelling stretches across the east wall either side of the reredos with figures displayed in canopied niches. Small pointed doorways either side lead into the ambulatory space beyond. Above the altar the stained glass is set within elaborate  curvilinear tracery, incorporating a star shape pattern found in other local churches [Pevsner]. The frames are surrounded by crocketed niches and badges of  local families - the Yardes and Ferrers. Dated C15th and relocated from another church.