All Saints' Church, Huntsham is a
Grade II* listed parish church in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
. It is in the small village of
Huntsham
Huntsham is a small village and civil parish, formerly a manor and ecclesiastical parish, in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. The nearest town is Tiverton, about south-west of the village. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the ...
, about to the north-east of
Tiverton. It is part of the Hukeley Mission group of parishes, which also includes St Michael & All Angels in
Bampton, St Peter's in
Clayhanger, St Petrock's in Petton and
St George's in
Morebath
Morebath is an upland village in the county of Devon, England. It is mostly given over to sheep-farming, and situated on the southern edge of Exmoor.
An account of life in Morebath in the 16th century can be read in ''The Voices of Morebath: Ref ...
.
History
Records indicate that Huntsham Church was one of several consecrated on 15 June 1336 and was extended in 1430; diocesan registers state that the first rector was Roger de Respremme, in 1263. The register which dates from 1558 records that in 1666 a donation of £2 0s 3d was sent by the parish for relief of the
Great Fire of London.
By 1850 the church was described by
White's Directory as an ancient ivy-mantled structure in terminal decay due to many years of neglect by the estate's owner, Rev. Edward Berkeley Troyte. Living next door at
Huntsham Court, the Rev. Troyte was known locally as "the sporting parson" and was said to keep traps and snares hidden in the church.
His successor in 1852, Arthur Troyte, wasted no time in setting about the restoration of the church, and within six months had employed
Benjamin Ferrey to rebuild it completely between 1854 and 1856; as it stands today, only the lower section of the church tower remains from the 14th century. Troyte was a
High Church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
patron who designed some of the details himself; he was actively involved in the rebuilding not only of All Saints but of other churches in the diocese. He ensured that only the finest materials were used with seasoned oak, Ham Hill stone,
Maws encaustic floor tiles, and stained glass by
Wailes. As part of the work, the churchyard was also enlarged and a
lychgate
A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...
built. Troyte also undertook to pay for the work personally, raising £500 for the project by selling 1,000 oak trees to the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
in Plymouth.
When Arthur's wife Fanny died only two months before the restoration was completed in November 1856, the parishioners gave a richly decorated octagonal font of
Caen stone
Caen stone (french: Pierre de Caen) is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about ...
in her memory; similarly, the
candelabrum which hangs in the nave was given in Arthur's memory when he died in 1857. Fanny's and Arthur's graves in the churchyard are marked by Grade II listed iron crosses with the letters F and A. A full account of the rebuilding of Huntsham is given in the Transactions of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society.
Arthur Troyte's son Charles Troyte continued to make improvements to the church: the north aisle was added in 1871, and more bells were added. First in 1866 he added three new bells to make a ring of six; he added two more bells in 1874 to allow the ringing of a full peal of 5,040 true and complete changes without repetition. This was achieved on 2 February 1875 when the first full peal of 5,040 Grandsire Triples was conducted by John Acland Troyte, a feat which a plaque in the ringing chamber records. In 1872 Charles Troyte wrote ''Change Ringing'', a standard textbook on bell ringing which long after his death contributed indirectly to English literature when
Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages.
She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...
found a copy in the bargain box of a second-hand bookshop: taking it home, she was inspired to write ''
The Nine Tailors
''The Nine Tailors'' is a 1934 mystery novel by the British writer Dorothy L. Sayers, her ninth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. The story is set in the Lincolnshire Fens, and revolves around a group of bell-ringers at the local parish church. The b ...
''.
Charles Troyte's son was a decorated soldier and
MP for
Tiverton Sir Gilbert Acland-Troyte. His grave, like those of his father and grandfather, lies in the churchyard. Also buried here is socialite and author
Anne Wignall.
The bell ringing tradition at Huntsham continues today with All Saints being used for extended practice by The Troyte Ringing Centre thanks to its sound-controlled tower.
Organ
According to the National Pipe Organ Register, the church organ is by
Hele & Co
Hele & Co (also known as Hele & Sons) were the main organ builders in the south west of England from 1865 to 2007.''The Freeman-Edmonds Directory of British Organ Builders''; by Andrew Freeman & Bernard Edmonds. 2002
History
The company was fo ...
. Dating from 1896, the painted decoration on the pipes is in memory of Charles Troyte, who died that year.
Clock
The clock on the east wall of the tower was supplied by the renowned
Messrs Smith and Son of Derby in 1912; it was paid for by a collection of £34. It strikes on the hour; before being made electric some years ago it needed winding every week.
Clergy
The following list of clergy has been derived from two sources. Pre-1700 clergy are listed in the 1846 ''Monasticon Dioecesis Exoniensis'', with post-1700 clergy listed in a local reference, ''Old Parsonage – a brief history''.
Summerhouse
Approximately 100 metres to the north west of the church is a small summerhouse in the woods constructed from medieval material from the church, during the works of either 1854 or 1871 mentioned above. According to the listing detail it has a stone outside rear wall partly of cob, reused stone tracery to the front and left, and a monopitch plain tile roof made from part of the original Medieval wagon roof structure.
References
External links
A church near you – Hunstham All Saints
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntsham
Church of England church buildings in Devon
Grade II* listed churches in Devon