Saint Mary The Virgin Church,
Combpyne Rousdon, East Devon. 13th-Century Church.
Text and Illustrations: DEVON CHURCH LAND
A Mediæval Wall Painting, scratched signs against evil, a Saddle-Back Tower Roof, 17th-Century scriptural paintings with Angels and a heartfelt Victorian Altar painting . . . History and people fill this beautiful old Church, as small
as its Parish, resting in a pretty East Devon valley.
Saddle-Back Roofs on Mediæval Church Towers are rare enough anywhere in England; here in Devon, only this one exists; they are more popular in Continental Europe.
Taste, snow shedding, Tradition, all these are potential explanations, with snow shedding (look at its steep pitched Roof) likely inching ahead in some areas, but here, in Devon ?
It is very near two major Mediæval Ports; Axmouth and Lyme Regis. So, maybe a traveller brought the style back ?
Stained-Glass Angel,
Combpyne Rousdon Church,
East Devon.
The Parish was landlocked until the 20th-Century, when it merged with Rousdon, to the South; it was also very small and very poor.
“The Parishioners consist, with the exception of two Farmers, solely of poor labourers” — “Western Times Newspaper”, 2 February 1877.
Ultimately, it was probably cheaper to roof the Tower the same as the Nave and Chancel, though that steep Saddle-Back Roof gives extra height to what is, to be fair, quite a short and rough Tower.
The whole Church is small and farmer built; rough, honest, solid, probably on a Saxon footprint, and dating from the 1200s.
There was a dispute about the ownership of the Church, back in 1185, which Pope Urban III got involved in; this place has history.
The Coffin family owned it back in 1166, when it was known as Combe Coffin, and then, in 1278, Sir Thomas de Pyn took over the Manor, which led to the present name change: “Combe” being Devon-ish for “Valley”.
Apart from the “Bonny-Ness” of its ragamuffin structure, the Chancel and Nave probably show the pattern that most Churches in Devon had before they expanded and adapted to taste and Liturgies.
The Coffin family owned it back in 1166, when it was known as Combe Coffin, and then, in 1278, Sir Thomas de Pyn took over the Manor, which led to the present name change: “Combe” being Devon-ish for “Valley”.
Apart from the “Bonny-Ness” of its ragamuffin structure, the Chancel and Nave probably show the pattern that most Churches in Devon had before they expanded and adapted to taste and Liturgies.
Whilst this darling was probably punched through the Chancel Wall in the 15th-Century, that carved top being a giveaway.
Why? Well, more light seems an obvious reason to us moderns, but more light equalled less heat (glazing, if there was any, being not very windproof), and light is only better if you have things to look at that need light. Books, for example.
Clergy were starting to be more literate and were being told they had to possess certain books, and then there were music books, too. Chanting really taking off in England by this time.
“Better literate” does not mean they were illiterate before, but there were (and still are) different degrees of literacy.
And Country Priests were rising up the scale from functional to technical, especially as books became more and more available and the Church authorities themselves were demanding the Clergy to “upskill”.
There was even a youth opportunity scheme where they gave a Parish to a promising lad, not yet Ordained, and the Parish Tithes were used to pay for that same lad to attend Oxford University for five to seven years; the lad had to rise through the ranks of Clergy: From Sub-Deacon, to Deacon, to Priest, as he studied.
And the evidence shows that this worked; it produced many more educated Priests fit for the times.
When Masons get curves right, they so definitely get them “totes au point”, especially when they frame an Altar as enchantingly as here.
It is from the 19th-Century restoration, the original Arch was about three metres (ten feet) higher, which allowed plenty of space for a Rood Loft and Rood Screen, and a painting or statue of Christ on The Cross.
Combpyne Rousdon Sanctuary.
Inside the Chancel, the Sanctuary is a mighty peaceful area, made more so by the age of its surroundings, the original Triple Lancet East Window, and the Piscina of the same age on the Right-Hand wall.
Whilst this charming Stained-Glass Window, Madonna and Child, is Victorian, and worth every Penny.