Church

St John, Bishopsteignton

St John, Bishopsteignton

St John the Baptist is a Grade I parish church on Church Road, Bishopsteignton, Devon, in the Diocese of Exeter and the Haldon Mission Community.

Location
Bishopsteignton, Devon
Country
England
County
Devon
City / town
Bishopsteignton
Address
Church Road, Bishopsteignton, Devon, TQ14 9QH
Postcode
TQ14 9QH
Built
C12 origins; C15 north aisle; substantial rebuilding 1815–63; chancel restored 1912
Architect
William Burgess of Exeter (1815 tower); Andrew Patey of Teignmouth (1825 chancel); J W Rowell of Teignmouth (1854)
Denomination
Church of England
Dedication
John
Diocese
Exeter
Parish
Bishopsteignton St John the Baptist
Grade
I
Style
Norman with later Perpendicular and C19 Gothic
Materials
Red sandstone rubble with white freestone dressings; slate roof with crested ridge tiles
Grid reference
SX 911 735
Opening hours
The church is open between 9am to 5pm each day and has an outdoor quiet space which is open all day, every day.
Access
Accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas

Overview

Historic England records a parish church of twelfth-century origins, with a fifteenth-century five-bay north aisle and substantial early-nineteenth-century rebuilding. In 1814 the church was partly ruinous: the crossing tower was dismantled and a new tower built at the west end of the north aisle in 1815 by William Burgess of Exeter. Andrew Patey of Teignmouth enlarged the chancel in 1825; J. W. Rowell of Teignmouth added a north chancel aisle in 1854; the spire was removed and the upper tower rebuilt in 1863; and the chancel was restored with a new chancel arch and vestry in 1912. The fabric is red sandstone rubble with white freestone dressings and a slate roof.

The listing highlights an exceptional twelfth-century west doorway (Pevsner called it one of the best in Devon) and a south tympanum of the Magi that Cresswell judged the finest in the county. The church retains a twelfth-century font (re-cut in the nineteenth century), monuments to Sir Peter Lear (died 1682) and the Martyn family of Lindridge, and stained glass including work marked by William Warrington (1858).

Further Information