St Mary's Church, Berry Pomeroy
St. Mary's Church, Berry Pomeroy | ||
---|---|---|
Style Perpendicular Style | | |
Administration | ||
District | South Hams | |
Archdeaconry | Totnes | |
Parish | Berry Pomeroy |
St Mary's Church of Berry Pomeroy is an
The Building
The church was rebuilt by
Interior
It has a forty-two feet long rood screen
There are two notable monuments in the church. The older one on the north of the chancel originates from the end of the 15th century and it is described by Stabb[3] as a tomb, which is synonymously described by English Heritage as a tomb chest - sarcophagi with quatrefoils and weepers in niches.[5][6][7] This monument is dedicated to Sir Richard Pomeroy (died 1496) and his wife. This tomb had been robbed of all ornamentation before the 18th century, as the vicar John Prince reported in his book "Worthies of Devon".[8][1]
A monument to Lord Edward Seymour stands against the north wall of the north aisle of the Seymour Chapel. It was described by the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner (1952) as: "The figure carving astonishingly naïve. To think that the children of Lord Protector Somerset were satisfied with this!"[9] W. G. Hoskins (1959) on the contrary called it fine".[1]
Writing in 1909, John Stabb described the monument thus:[10]
In the north wall of the chapel at the east end of the north aisle is a fine monument [...], erected to the memory of Lord Edward Seymour, the son of the Protector, who died in 1593, and of his son, Sir Edward Seymour, and his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, daughter of Arthur Champernowne. The arch is ornamented with roses and pomegranates; beneath the arch lie the knights, clothed in plate armour, one above the other; below lies the lady, behind her head a cradle with a child in it, and at her feet a figure in a chair. On the panel beneath are the kneeling figures of the nine children, five male and four female.[3][10]
A tablet in the chancel remembers the vicar John Prince, who was the author of the book "Worthies of Devon".[3]
In the southern porch are the arms of the Pomeroy family.[3]
A carved effigy of St George with folding doors has been dedicated to fallen soldiers of the
A display as a remembrance of the events during the Second World War—as American soldiers prepared for D-Day—is inside the church.[12]
Vicars of St Mary's
A continuous succession line of the Vicars of St Mary's Church, Berry Pomeroy is reported for a time of over 200 years:[13]
- John Prince (1681–1723)
- Joseph Fox (1723–1789)
- John Edwards (1789–1834)
- Edward Brown (1834–1843)
- William Burrough Cosens (1843–1861)
- Arthur J. Everett (1861–1896)
- Henry Stewart Prinsep (1896–1908), nephew of Susan St Maur, Duchess of Somerset
In recent times there is no vicar at St. Mary's and the services are held by reverends from out of the village. The maintenance of the church is organized by the Friends of Berry Pomeroy Church.[14]
Recent Status
Since 1961 it is a
Cinema
The church and the church yard were the film location for the making the final scene of Sense and Sensibility by Ang Lee, featuring Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson.[16]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959, p.333
- ^ a b c Historic England, Church of St Mary, Berry Pomeroy - South Hams
- ^ a b c d e f Stabb, John Some Old Devon Churches: their rood screens, pulpits, fonts, etc.. 3 vols. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, 1908, 1911, 1916, p. 15
- ^ ISBN 0-14-071050-7.
- ^ https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1108535, Historic England, CHURCH OF ST MARY
- ^ http://www.babercemetery.org/CBHC.pdf, CHEST, BOX and HIP TOMBS, and CRADLE Gravestone
- ^ https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803104848207, Overview tomb chest, Oxford Reference, Oxford University Press
- ^ Prince, Rev. John, Worthies of Devon (1701), 1810 edition, pp. 645–9 (Pomerai)
- ^ Pevsner, N., Buildings of England: Devon, Harmondsworth, 1952, p. 49
- ^ a b Stabb, John (1909). Devon Church Antiquities. Vol. 1. London: Simpkin. Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co. Ltd. p. 10.
- ^ https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/200634/, War Memorials Online c/o War Memorials Trust, 14 Buckingham Palace Road, London, Berry Pomeroy Church Memorial
- ^ Ross, David (2021). "Berry Pomeroy, Devon". Britain Express.
- ^ Pomeroy, Albert Alonzo (1912). Albert Alonzo Pomeroy. History and genealogy of the Pomeroy family : colateral [sic] lines in family groups, Normandy, Great Britain and America; comprising the ancestors and descendants of Eltweed Pomeroy from Beaminster, County Dorset, England, 1630 (Volume pt. 1). Toledo, Ohio: The Franklin Printing and Engraving Co.
- ^ a b The Friends of Berry Pomeroy, Glyn Watkin, The Honorary Secretary, About us
- ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (1108535)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Britten, Nick (18 July 2010). "Weddings fall at Sense and Sensibility church after bells break". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 August 2011.