Crediton Parish Church, formally the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and the Mother of Him who Hung Thereon, is a prominent building and worshipping community in the
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
town of
Crediton. The church is built on the site of what was the "cathedral" of the
Bishop of Crediton
The Bishop of Crediton is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Crediton in Devon, England. The title was originally used by the Anglo-Saxons in the 10th and 11th centuries for a diocese covering Devon and Cornwall. It is now ...
in the former diocese until 1050 when the see was transferred to Exeter. A college of canons remained at Crediton, administering the buildings and life of the "collegiate" church. The nave and chancel of the current building date from the 15th century. At the
English Reformation the church was surrendered to
Henry VIII in 1545, and the college dispersed. The church buildings were bought by the Crediton Town Corporation who still administer the fabric today. Now a parish church, the life of the church is administered by the parochial church council (PCC), although many still refer to the church as the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross.
The church is held in trust by the Governors of Crediton for the people of the parish, but its life and worship are planned by the clergy and parochial church council. The church is a
Grade I listed building.
History
Crediton Church has a history which is as long as that of any church in Devon, including Exeter Cathedral. In the early 10th century Crediton was chosen as the site for the cathedral for Devon and Cornwall and a cathedral was built there c. 910 AD by
Eadwulf of Crediton
__NOTOC__
Eadwulf (or Edwulf) was a medieval Bishop of Crediton.
Life
Eadwulf was elected to Crediton in 909 and built a cathedral there in 910, which later became the collegiate church of Crediton. He was also associated with the founding of t ...
. In 1046 Leofric was appointed to both the sees and moved the Devon see to Exeter. The ''cathedra'', the bishop's throne, was moved to Exeter in 1050, where it was placed in a Saxon minster until a purpose-built cathedral could be constructed which did not happen for many years.
Crediton had lost the see, but the Bishop of Exeter retained his palace there (a little to the north-east of Holy Cross) and his lands around the town. The church survived, though not in its original building. The construction of a Norman church on the present site was started—building work was in progress in the 1130s—and a
collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...
(based on the old cathedral and initially staffed by 18 canons with 18 vicars) was established, although lack of funds meant that the number of canons was soon reduced to 12.
The collegiate church was always completely secular: none of the canons or vicars lived the communal life of monks, their work being funded by income from tithes on the extensive lands of the parish (which were shared with the bishop).
The early dedication of the church was to St Mary, but the present dedication—the Church of the Holy Cross and the Mother of Him Who Hung Thereon—came into use only after the 1230s. The church was extended in the late 13th century by the addition of the Lady Chapel and the Chapter House.
John de Grandisson
The '' John Grandisson Triptych'', displaying on two small escutcheons the arms of Bishop Grandisson. British Museum
John de Grandisson (1292 – 16 July 1369), also spelt Grandison, was Bishop of Exeter, in Devon, England, from 1327 to his dea ...
, Bishop of Exeter (1327–1369), attempted to ensure that at least the chief officers of the college, the precentor and the treasurer, were resident in the immediate area of the church. Grandisson had enormous influence on the church in Crediton in another way. This was by introducing—or reviving—the cult of St Boniface (the cult of the saints was in full swing at this time) and firmly established Crediton as his birthplace. A new statue of St Boniface was created in the 1970s by the sculptor
Witold Gracjan Kawalec
Witold Gracjan Kawalec (17 November 1922 – 24 December 2003) was a Polish-born sculptor, who worked mainly in England.
Early life
He was born in Wilno, Poland in 1922. Working for the Polish resistance movement during World War II, he was capt ...
.
In a medieval will it was stated that the Norman nave of the church was being "now nearly levelled to the ground." The bequest of that testator, and others of around the same time, brought enough money for a complete rebuilding of the nave and chancel areas, which started in the early years of the fifteenth century. Great church building depended on generous funding being available. The Perpendicular Gothic rebuilding of Crediton Collegiate Church created a church which though impressive in scale is architecturally fairly modest.
The collegiate churches were dissolved between 1545 and 1549 and Crediton's was "surrendered" to Henry VIII in May 1545. Shortly afterwards the parishioners of Crediton entered into successful negotiations with the Crown for the purchase of the collegiate church which was then threatened with demolition. These were completed in the spring of 1547, when the town paid the sum of £200 to the king. In April 1547, Edward VI signed a charter which created a new organisation for the governance of the church. This was a corporation of 12 governors to administer the Parish Church and its endowments. A vicar of Crediton was appointed together with two chaplains, one of which ministered to
Sandford (the adjoining parish).
The twelve governors of the Crediton Church Corporation, a registered charity, still own and administer the church buildings. Only two other parish churches in England,
Ottery St Mary
Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, F ...
in Devon and
Wimborne Minster
Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Poo ...
in Dorset have a similar form of governance.
;Popular sayings
"That’s Exter (Exeter), as the old woman said when she saw Kerton (Crediton)" is a Devonshire saying, meaning, I thought my work was done, but I find much still remains before it is completed.
Monuments
The principal monuments within the church include:
*Monument with effigy of
William Peryam
Sir William Peryam (15349 October 1604) of Little Fulford, near Crediton in Devon, was an English judge who rose to the position of Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1593, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I.
Origins
Peryam was born in ...
(1534–1604), of
Little Fulford
Little Fulford was an historic estate in the parishes of Shobrooke and Crediton, Devon. It briefly share ownership before 1700 with Great Fulford, in Dunsford, about to the south-west. The Elizabethan mansion house originally called Fulford ...
(now Shobrooke Park)
Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer
The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who ...
. North side of chancel.
*Tuckfield Monument, north side of chancel, adjacent to the west side of the Peryam monument. Monument with seated effigy of Elizabeth Tuckfield (1593–1630). This family was resident at Little Fulford which they inherited from descendants of Peryam.
*Heraldic window c.1924, south wall of south transept, bequeathed by W.M. Smith-Dorrien (d. 1924), Vicar of Crediton. Shows arms of many historic families associated with the parish.
*De Sully effigies of
John de Sully (1282–1388), and his wife Isobel. East end of south choir aisle. Sully was
lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
of
Iddesleigh
Iddesleigh is a village and civil parish in the county of Devon, England. The settlement has ancient origins and is listed in the ''Domesday Book''. The village lies on the B3217 road, roughly central in its parish of around , about north of ...
, but was said by
Westcote to have had his seat at "Rookesford", i.e.
Ruxford {{Short description, Historic estate in Devon, England
Ruxford is an historic estate in the parish of Sandford, near Crediton in Devon.
History
Pre-Norman Conquest
''Hroces Ford'' (Ruxford) is recorded in the Anglo Saxon Charters.
Courtenay
T ...
, in the parish of
Sandford about 1/2-mile north-west of Crediton. He held Ruxford of John de Raleigh of
Raleigh
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
in the parish of
Pilton, as is evidenced in the latter's deed of 1362 now held in the North Devon Record Office.
*Memorial to
Redvers Buller
General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, (7 December 1839 – 2 June 1908) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forc ...
(1839–1908), of
Downes House, army general,
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
recipient, lord of the manor of Crediton, west side of tower arch.
Organ
The War Memorial Organ was designed based on plans drawn by the church's organist Harold Organ in 1915. Organ was killed in action in 1917 but the plans were continued by Cyril Church. The organ was built by Harrison and Harrison of Durham, and first used in 1921. The organ was restored and put in a new case in 2001.
Details of the organ from the National Pipe Organ Register
Services
Sunday
* 8:00 am: Holy Communion (BCP)
* 9:30 am: Parish Eucharist (1st Sunday: Family Communion in the Boniface Centre)
* 6:00 pm
** Choral Evensong with sermon (1st Sunday)
** Evensong at St Lawrence's Chapel (2nd Sunday)
** Evening Worship at Holy Cross (3rd Sunday)
** "Talkback" at the Boniface Centre (4th Sunday)
** Taize Vespers at St Lawrence's Chapel (5th Sunday)
Tuesday
* 8:15 am: Holy Communion
* 4:45 pm: Evening Prayer
Wednesday
* 9:15 am: Morning Prayer
* 12 noon: Holy Communion at St Lawrence's Chapel
* 4:45 pm: Evening Prayer
Thursday
* 8:15 am: Holy Communion
* 4:45 pm: Evening Prayer
Friday
* 8:15 am: Morning Prayer
* 10:00 am: Holy Communion (BCP)
* 4:45 pm: Evening Prayer
See also
Churches and chapels of the United Benefice:
* St Lawrence
Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...
, Crediton
* St Swithin's, Shobrooke
Shobrooke is a village, parish and former manor in Devon, England. The village is situated about 1 1/2 miles north-east of Crediton. It is located close to Shobrooke park. The river Shobrooke Lake flows through the village. It had a populatio ...
* St Swithun's, Sandford, Devon
Sandford is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district, within Devon, England. ''Sandford'' is part of the electoral ward named ''Sandford'' and Creedy. The ward population at the 2011 Census was 3,429.
History
The Grade II listed ...
* Beacon Church, Sandford (New Buildings)
* St Mary the Virgin, Upton Hellions
* Holy Trinity, Yeoford
Yeoford () is a village near the town of Crediton in Devon, England. It is served by Yeoford railway station on the Exeter to Barnstaple railway line, otherwise known as the Tarka Line
The Tarka Line, also known as the North Devon Line, ...
* St Luke's, Posbury
Posbury is an ancient estate in Devon, now a hamlet, situated about 2 miles south-west of Crediton and 2 miles north of Tedburn St Mary and 1 mile west of the small hamlet of Venny Tedburn.
Posbury Hill Fort
Posbury Hill Fort is an unexcavate ...
* St Francis', Posbury
Posbury is an ancient estate in Devon, now a hamlet, situated about 2 miles south-west of Crediton and 2 miles north of Tedburn St Mary and 1 mile west of the small hamlet of Venny Tedburn.
Posbury Hill Fort
Posbury Hill Fort is an unexcavate ...
References
Further reading
* Reuter, Timothy (ed.) (1980). ''The Greatest Englishman: Essays on St Boniface and the Church at Crediton''. Exeter: Paternoster Press.
External links
{{commons category
Crediton Parish Church
Choir of Holy Cross
The Search for Saxon Crediton
Crediton
Crediton
Diocese of Exeter
Former cathedrals in England
Crediton