St Petrock's Church in
Parracombe
Parracombe is a rural settlement south-west of Lynton, in Devon, England. It is situated in the Heddon Valley, on Exmoor. The population at the 2011 census was 293.
A number of Bronze Age barrows exist nearby, along with several other small ...
,
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, England was built in the 13th century. It is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...
as a designated Grade I
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
,
and is now a
redundant church
A redundant church, now referred to as a closed church, is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused churche ...
in the care of the
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...
.
It was declared redundant on 25 November 1969, and was
vested
In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property are acquired by some Legal person, person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vest ...
in the Trust on 23 June 1971.
The church is dedicated to
St Petrock. Parts of the building, including the
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
and the lower part of the tower remain from the 13th century, but much of the current fabric dates from a reconstruction in the early 16th century.
In 1879 there were worries about the stability of the building, however protests led by
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...
, who donated £10, led to the preservation of the church and the construction of a new one further west in the village.
The interior includes 18th-century
box pew
A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries.
History in England
Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in c ...
s, a
Georgian pulpit and a screen with a wooden
tympanum above it which dates from the 18th century.
Gallery
File:Parracombe 1.jpg, The exterior of St Petrock's from the southwest
File:Parracombe 2.jpg, The interior of St Petrock's from the back of the south aisle
File:Parracombe 3.jpg, The interior of St Petrock's from the front of the south aisle. Note the hat pegs on the wall on the left
File:Parracombe 4.jpg, The interior of St Petrock's from the back of the nave
File:Parracombe 5.jpg, The exterior of St Petrock's from the southeast
See also
*
References
13th-century church buildings in England
Church of England church buildings in Devon
Grade I listed churches in Devon
Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust
Churches dedicated to St Petroc
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