St John's Church, Bridgetown is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

place of worship built in 1832 by

Edward St Maur, 11th Duke of Somerset Edward Adolphus St Maur, 11th Duke of Somerset (né Seymour; 24 February 1775 – 15 August 1855), styled Lord Seymour until 1793, of Maiden Bradley in Wiltshire and Stover House, Teigngrace, Devon, was a British peer, landowner, astrolog ...

for the tenants of his estate in

Bridgetown, Devon Bridgetown occupies the left bank of the Dart in the town of Totnes, Devon, England. It resulted from the first bridge being built across the river for the town. The river is in a valley, with Bridgetown on the south eastern slopes opposite To ...

. The original church was gutted by fire on 9 July 1976 owing to arson. The church was rebuilt and reconsecrated by

Eric Mercer Eric Arthur John Mercer (6 December 1917 – 8 November 2003) was an Anglican bishop in the Church of England. He was the first Bishop of Birkenhead from 1965 to 1973 and, from then until his retirement, the Bishop of Exeter. Mercer was educa ...

, the

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024. From the first bishop until the sixteent ...

in 1980. It is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building. When the church was built Edward St Maur contacted Henry Philpotts, the

as regards the consecration of the church. After a meeting and extensive correspondence between the Duke's solicitor and the Bishop's secretary it was resolved to make the church a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

attached to

St Mary's Church, Berry Pomeroy St Mary's Church of Berry Pomeroy is an Anglican parish church in Berry Pomeroy, with a full length, forty-two foot wide, rood screen which has been described as one of the most perfect in Devon. It is listed on the Heritage at Risk Register. T ...

. From 1843 until 1869 the church was aligned with the

Free Church of England The Free Church of England (FCE) is an Episcopal Church based in England. The church was founded when a number of congregations separated from the established Church of England in the middle of the 19th century. The doctrinal basis of the FC ...

References

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the Parishes of Barbados, parish of Saint Michael, Barbados, Saint Mic ...

Churches completed in 1980 Churches completed in 1832 1832 establishments in England Chapels of ease in the United Kingdom Chapels in England {{England-Anglican-church-stub