Churches of the British Isles

The Church of St Mary Magdalene, Winsford, is at the north-west corner of the Ash Lane and The Steep junction. Its origins are Norman, with some elements still surviving, including the font. The ironwork on the inner doors is thought to date from the 1200s, coming from St Nicholas Priory in Barlinch (see links). The original dedication may have been for St Peter, but this seemingly changed when the church was generally rebuilt, perhaps in stages, between about 1400-1500.

The Norman church was showing signs of imminent collapse under the weight of its own roof when that rebuild came. The arcade pillars on the south side still slope outwards toward their tops to match the original build. The three-stage tower is almost thirty metres in height. It contains a ring of six bells, with the four heaviest being made by Thomas Bilbie in Collompton in 1765. The building underwent partial restoration in 1858 and the organ was installed about 1900.

Winsford Church House is at the churchyard's east end, with The Steep on its eastern flank and Greystones cottage to its south. Devon parishes in the 1400s and 1500s typically had a church house at which people met for fundraising church ales, parties, and meetings. Today's building here includes features which may indicate a date of the 1700s or earlier, possibly forming from two separate properties, the southern of which had a shop at the tithe map survey of 1839.

The Church of St Giles, Hawkridge, is on the southern side of Broad Lane, opposite the Marshclose Hill lane. The initial building was Norman, probably twelfth century, but much of it was replaced in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The style is mainly Perpendicular but with a surviving Norman south door and with a chancel and the base of the tower dating to the 1300s. The majority of the tower dates to the general restoration work of 1878.

The local stone random-rubble church consists of a nave and chancel with a tower at the west end, Ham stone dressings, and slate roofs, The fabric includes an east window and buttresses in the early Decorated style as well as early Norman features. The graveyard has been in use since at least the medieval period. The remains of a medieval cross survive in the churchyard, comprising a socket stone and a small stump of shaft. The first rector was appointed in 1318.

Photos on this page kindly contributed by Cameron Stops, Sally Clarke, Keltek Trust, Tony Ethridge, 'Peter', and Somerset Bloke, all via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group. Additional information by Dr Helen Wilson, and from Report and Transactions (The Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art, 1900).