Churches of the British Isles

Tidwell Manor Chapel once stood on the eastern side of the B3178 road, opposite the present farm buildings of Tidwell Barton, and immediately to the north of Budleigh Salterton. The site of the original manor is marked on most OS maps. Tidwell was granted licence in 1448 for a chapel, part of the manor house, owned in the 1500s by the Seyntclere family and by the Arscot family from 1620 onwards. The manor was fully rebuilt on the opposite side of the road in 1725.

All Saints Church, East Budleigh, is at the south-west corner of High Street and Yettington Road. The site was originally a Saxon place of worship. A stone church was built on it in the 1100s, which in turn was replaced by the present building, probably between 1420-1425. It uses the local red sandstone which would have been collected from beneath the sea cliffs. It is noted for its connection with the Raleigh family, its carved bench ends, and its rood screen.

Salem Chapel is on the east side of the v-junction between Vicarage Road and East Budleigh Road, at the village's northern tip. The chapel is on the left here, dating to 1719 and enlarged in 1836. The assembly room is on the right, used as a school. The original Presbyterian congregation later became Independent. In the 1980s the chapel was briefly Assemblies of God. It is built of cob (rammed earth) and stone and is square in plan with an attractive interior and a gallery.

The Church of St Michael & All Angels is all that remains of Otterton Priory, standing at the north-east corner of Church Hill's north-east turn to an east-west lane, and with the church at the northern edge of the churchyard. This listed Gothic church dates mainly from 1870. The tower is original, with later changes, dating from the 1000s when the priory was founded here by Normandy's Benedictine Abbey of Mont St Michel. The church survived the Dissolution.

That church building was in a poor state by the 1700s. The Rolle family carried out considerable improvements, with part of the north side being rebuilt. The roof was repaired in 1827, and by 1841 the church was in a much better state of repair. It came as something of a surprise to the locals when the then-Lady Rolle ordered the building of a new, much larger church and the old one was knocked down in 1870. The imperious decision generated considerable local resentment.

One photo on this page originally published on Lynne's 'Echoes of the Past' blog and reproduced here with permission, three photos kindly contributed by Robert Slack (two), and Alison Day via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group, one photo copyright © Lewis Clark via Geograph, reused under a cc licence, and one photo copyright © Love Budleigh.