St Winwalloe's Church

The history of East Portlemouth

St Winwaloe's Church

Parts of the present church were built in the 12th - early 13th century. The 12th century church (shown blue in the plan) had the form of a cross (cruciform), with a nave, chancel and transepts.

The tower was built between 1400 and 1450 and the two side aisles were added shortly after, followed by the porch. Other changes were made to bring the church into the perpendicular Gothic style. The church contains a beautiful late 15th century rood screen with 26 paintings of saints.

The 12th century building is thought to be a development of an earlier church on the site. This may have been built in the early 10th century during the reign of King Athelstan, King Alfred’s grandson. Athelstan had close contacts with Brittany, the birth-place of St. Winwaloe (462-532) who was a Celt whose parent had fled to Brittany from Wales to escape the Anglo-Saxons.

After St. Winwaloe’s death, monks came to Devon and Cornwall and founded monasteries and churches although it seems unlikely that these included East Portlemouth’s.

In 2006, a survey by Stratascan Ltd using ground penetrating radar showed the remains of a wall across the nave approximately in line with where the porch door is now.

This suggests that the nave of the earlier church was shorter than the present one by about a third. The survey also suggests that the eastern end of the chancel might have had the rounded apse (semicircular recess) found in many Anglo-Saxon (and early Norman) churches.

The Village

East Portlemouth used to be a much larger and more flourishing place than it is today; it was a port and ship-building was an important industry. It provided four ships and ninety men for the Crecy and Calais campaigns of 1346 and contributed at least one ship to chase the Spanish Armada in 1588. In 1879 the Duke and Duchess reorganised the whole village. Many fishermen's cottages were destroyed and their tenants dispossessed, while several farms and smallholdings were amalgamated into three 200 acre farms at East Portlemouth Village, Rickham and Holset. At its peak, the village had a population approaching 500 but this was drastically reduced by the reorganisation.

More information on the history of St Winwaloe’s and the village is given in a printed leaflet which is available in the church and also reproduced below.

Leaflet

Welcome to the Parish Church of St. Winwaloe

Parts of the present church were built in the 12th - early 13th century although the first known references were somewhat later: in the Exeter Diocesan Records of 1268 and The Taxation of Pope Nicholas IV of 1288.

The church is approached through a churchyard whose graves include those of ship-wrecked sailors and smugglers. One 18th century tombstone describes the murder of Richard Jarvis of Rickham by his apprentice girl who was burnt as a witch. On the right, near the lych-gate, is a 15th century preaching cross which has now been converted to a sun-dial. The cross used to stand outside the Rectory but was moved here in the 1980s. Other parts of the cross are on the ground at the base of the tower and to the right of the porch.

THE PORCH
The steps to the left of the porch lead to the parvis or priest's chamber. As Portlemouth did not always have a resident priest, this small room above the porch was used by visiting priests who came on horse-back to lead worship (the mounting block can be seen in the bank opposite the lych gate). It is likely that the empty niches over the porch held statues presumably removed at the Reformation in the 1530s-1540s; one statue may have been of St. Winwaloe. In the Middle Ages, the betrothal part of a marriage took place in the porch and the stone seats (recently replaced) would have been provided for the comfort of the guests. After the betrothal, the bridal party entered the church for the Nuptial Mass.

THE CHURCH
The 12th century church (shown blue in the plan) had the form of a cross (cruciform), with a nave, chancel and transepts. The tower was built between 1400 and 1450 and the two side aisles were added shortly after, followed by the porch. Other changes were made to bring the church into the perpendicular Gothic style. Like most Devon churches it has no clerestory windows (upper row of windows). The rough-cast on the external walls, protecting the rather porous local stone from the effects of the weather, would originally have been a lime render, rather than the present hard grey Portland cement.

THE INTERIOR
Entering the church, the baptismal font is on the right; mid-late 15th century, not Saxon as sometimes suggested. A board at the back of the church shows a list of Rectors and Patrons from 1269 and to its left is the door to the belfry. Five bells were recast in 1912 by Taylor’s of Loughborough but the heaviest has hung in the tower since that was built. It bears the Latin inscription, in 15th century script, Me melior vere non est campana sub ere (There is no better bell than me under the heavens).

Further up the nave towards the altar is a beautiful late 15th century screen. On the right is the organ which was donated to the church in 1903. The height of the exposed base to the granite columns increases as one moves up the nave indicating that the original floor sloped upwards perhaps with the intention of making you feel you were “walking up to God”. The roof of the church is barrel-vaulted; the ornamental timbers of the vaulting were replaced by creosoted plaster of Paris in 1953.

THE SCREEN
The screen was restored in 1934 under the direction of Sir Charles Nicholson (his drawings are hanging on the south wall) and further work was carried out in 1962. 26 portraits of saints are painted onto the lower panelling; a common feature of rood screens in Devon, but rare elsewhere in England. The intact panels, from the left, are (1) St. Andrew, (2) St. Hubert, (3) St. Quirinus, (4) St. George and (5) St.Cornelius. (6) St Winwaloe is immediately to the right of the pulpit. He is holding what may be a representation of an earlier East Portlemouth Church; we cannot be sure since paintings often show saints holding model churches.

The reredos (painted screen) above the altar shows a 20th century portrait of St. Winwaloe holding a model of the present church. Next to St. Winwaloe is (7) St. Dominic (half figure), (8) Pope Gregory, (9) a scholar, perhaps St. Augustine, (10) St. Mark, (11) St. John, (12) a choir of angels, (13) the Virgin Mary, (14) a female martyr, (15) St. Peter, (16) St. Catherine of Siena, (17) King Edward the Confessor or Roger Champernoun, the donor; (18) St. Francis, (19) St. Lawrence, (20) St. Bavon of Ghent, (21) St. Sebastian. (22) & (23) are two unidentifiable women, (24) God the Son, (25) part of the coronation of the Virgin Mary and (26) St. Jerome with his lion.

The new oak used in the restoration can be seen in several areas of the screen. This is most apparent on the chancel side as are burn marks on the wood near the top of the screen; these may indicate an attempt to destroy the screen by the Cromwellian forces encamped on Rickham Common in 1643-44. In its original form, vaulting would have projected forwards and possibly backwards to support a deck strong enough to carry choir boys for some services. Fragments of this decorative vaulting survive, nailed to the front of the screen arches. Intact examples can be seen elsewhere in Devon, such as Coldridge and Plymtree in East Devon, or restored, as at Ipplepen in South Devon.

THE CHANCEL
Moving through the screen into the chancel we see it after its restoration by Nicholson. The new altar, priest's stalls and reredos (painted by Gerald Smith) were all designed by Nicholson. The altar is of oak and walnut, bearing a carved and gilded design of wheat and wine, emblems of the Blessed Sacrament. The paintings in the reredos represent St. Nicholas, St. Hubert, St. Winwaloe, the Virgin Mary, St. Martha and St. Cecilia.

THE RECTORY
The Rectory would originally have been close to the church but was moved, probably around the 15th century, to a fine site at Horse Pool Cove on the banks of the estuary. The 1840 Tithe map shows that a chapel had been built next to it. This would have been a private chapel for the rector, a not uncommon feature for Rectories some distance from the church. The Rectory was rebuilt in the 19th century and sold to a private owner in the 1980s. The existence of the chapel led earlier authors to suggest that this was the site of the first church in East Portlemouth.

ST WINWALOE
Our knowledge of St. Winwaloe comes from a manuscript, Vita, written by Wurdistan, Abbot of Landévennec, in the middle of the 9th century. Winwaloe was born in Brittany in about AD 462. His father, Fracan, was a Celtic chieftain who fled there from Wales around AD 460 when the Saxons arrived. Winwaloe became a disciple of St Budoc on the Island of Lavret, a small island close to the Island of Bréhat, just off the North Brittany coast.

He later founded a settlement at Tibidy, then, in 485, transferred across the river Aulne to found the monastery at Landévennec, south of Brest, which recently celebrated its 1500th anniversary. After his death around 532 AD, monks came to Devon and Cornwall and founded monasteries and churches which might have included East Portlemouth. His Patronal Day is the 3rd of March.

AN EARLIER CHURCH
The ovoid (egg-shaped) shape of the churchyard is characteristic of churchyards before the Norman Conquest. After that they became square or rectangular. Its dedication to St Winwaloe might suggest the first church was built sometime after his death and before the Saxons drove the Celts across the Tamar into Cornwall around 750 AD. However it seems more likely to have been built in the early 10th century during the reign of King Athelstan.

Many parish churches were built at that time and Athelstan had close contacts with Brittany.
In 2006, a survey by Stratascan Ltd using ground penetrating radar showed the remains of a wall across the nave approximately in line with where the porch door is now. This suggests that the nave of the earlier church was shorter than the present one by about a third. It is not known though whether the west end of the building ended at this wall or whether perhaps the church had an antechamber (narthex) at its west end. The survey also suggests that the eastern end of the chancel might have had the rounded apse (semicircular recess) found in many Anglo-Saxon (and early Norman) churches.

THE VILLAGE
East Portlemouth used to be a much larger and more flourishing place than it is today; it was a port and ship-building was an important industry. It provided four ships and ninety men for the Crecy and Calais campaigns of 1346 and contributed at least one ship to chase the Spanish Armada in 1588. The ship-building, farming and fishing community would have provided the wealth to construct and maintain this fine church and Roger Champernoun, who became its patron in 1450, is thought to have provided the money for its rebuilding.

Ship-building declined in importance from the early 18th century. In the 19th century, the village became part of the estate of the Duke of Bolton but passed to the Duke of Cleveland around 1870. In 1879 the Duke and Duchess reorganised the whole village. Many fishermen's cottages were destroyed and their tenants dispossessed, while several farms and smallholdings were amalgamated into three 200 acre farms at East Portlemouth Village, Rickham and Holset. High House remained a separate entity, as did Goodshelter and West Prawle. At its peak, the village had a population approaching 500 but this was drastically reduced by the reorganisation. Local commentators were appalled at the social effects of these changes and similar changes that took place in nearby Bigbury, likening them to the Highland Clearances in Scotland.

THE DEDICATION AND TITLE OF THE CHURCH
The spelling of Winwaloe has varied over the centuries and from about 1780 the Latin form, Onolaus, was used. The English form, Winwalloe, was used again from about 1930 although now with a double l, presumably to indicate it was pronounced like Winwallow. In 2006, the diocese asked the church to return to the historically more correct spelling: St Winwaloe.

A HOLIDAY PRAYER
Lord, you are the source of peace and hope. Be with me at this time. Help me to be aware of your presence in your church and in the beauty of nature around me and grant that when I return home I may be renewed for the duties of my daily life - Amen.

The leaflet was revised in 2007 following the publication of East Portlemouth Heritage Appraisal, An Archaeological History of the Parish written in 2000 by the archaeologist, Robert Waterhouse. We are very grateful to him, to Professors Nicholas Orme and Michael Reeve, of the Universities of Exeter and Cambridge respectively, to Dr Andrew Reynolds, University College, London and to the Revd Prebendary John Scott for their help. We also thank the Friends of East Portlemouth Church for funding the radar survey (from an ear-marked donation) and for the printing costs of the leaflet.

The original leaflet was written about 15 years ago by the Revd Paul Hancock, drawing on the history of the church written in 1960 by the Revd W.W. Price. A copy of this history is in the Local Studies section of Kingsbridge library.