Official list entry
Heritage Category: Listed Building
Grade: II*
List Entry Number: 1209699
Date first listed: 22-Aug-1955
List Entry Name: CHURCH OF ST PETER
Statutory Address 1: CHURCH OF ST PETER
Location
Statutory Address: St Peters Church, Elliots Hill, Buckland in the Moor, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ13 7HP
County: Devon
District: Teignbridge (District Authority)
Parish: Buckland in the Moor
National Park: DARTMOOR
National Grid Reference: SX 72048 73135
Details
Parish Church, a chapelry of Ashburton. C15 or early C16. Granite rubble; south wall of nave and chancel and north wall of chancel covered with roughcast. Slated roofs. Nave, chancel, north aisle and transept, south porch, west tower. Exterior of main body of church has been heavily restored and there is little that can certainly be said to pre-date 1907-8, except for a 2-light window in south wall of chancel, the lights chamfered and with round arches; the 3-light east window has old moulded jambs. The south porch is also much restored, but retains its original moulded doorway with 2-centred arch at the front and hollow-moulded corbel-tables at the sides. Inside the porch are old stone seats at either side. The wagon roof appears to be a restoration. The 2-stage, battlemented tower is completely unrestored. The west door has a moulded 2-centred arch enclosed by a rectangular chamfered frame. Above it is an old window of circa 1300 appearance with 2-pointed- arched lights set within a 2-centred arch and chamfered hood-mould. Against the south face is a 5-sided stair turret with slit windows. The ringing chamber has a single round-arched window in the east face, while the bell-chamber has paired apertures with 2-centred arches in each of the north, east and west faces, the south face having a similar single aperture at the east side of the stair turret. In west face a C20 clock with musical chime. Interior has granite arcade of 3 arches on the north side, the arches double- chamfered and 4-centred, the piers with 4 attached shafts having a hollow moulding between them. Tower arch is round-headed with chamfered imposts. On north side of chancel a winding stone stair to rood loft, entered through a chamfered doorway with Tudor arch. In south wall of chancel a piscina with roughly shouldered head. Wagon roofs are C20 restorations. Fittings: Norman limestone font, goblet type with palmette, resetts and cable ornament. Original traceried wooden screen with painted figures on the lower panels, most of those on south side having been destroyed; on the reverse side are 4 large panels with figures painted in black and white. Traceried openings above retain much old paint; canopy is a restoration. Early C18 wooden pulpit; 6-sided, the sides with raised-and-fielded panels. The rear side is developed into a tall, fluted Doric pilaster flanked by scrolls. Over south door a board painted with royal arms of George II and date 1745. On walls of north aisle 3 slate tablets of C19 carved with the creed and 10 commandments. Beneath the tower arch some re-set medieval glazed tiles. On floor of north aisle 4 slate tomb slabs, 1 dated 1593. An old photograph displayed in the church shows box pews removed during the restoration of 1907-8; parts of these may survive in the panelled dado that now lines the nave, aisle and transept. Sources: Plaque of 1907-8 recording the restoration. Notes of C Fryer Cornelius, 1946, displayed in the church. N.Pevsner, South Devon, 1952, p.71.
St Peter's church stands on a rise of ground at the north-west end of the village, beside Buckland Court. The first church here was built in the 13th century, but the present building dates to the late 15th or early 16th century. It boasts a beautifully carved Norman font and a vividly painted 14th-century screen. In front of the altar is the tomb of Ralph Woodley, lord of the manor in 1593. There is a very good wagon roof, an 18th-century wooden pulpit, and a coat of arms to George II dated 1745. Under the tower arch are a series of medieval glazed tiles.
But of course, the most famous feature is the striking clock face. Like the village's other famous oddity, the Ten Commandment Stones, the clock face was the work of the Lord of Buckland Manor, William Whitely. In 1931 Whitely had the clock built as a memorial to his mother, who had died shortly before. At the same time, he gave a ring of 3 bells. The clock chimes 'All things bright and beautiful' every quarter hour.
At the bottom of the churchyard stands a delightful thatched vestry; the only one in England still in use.
TEN COMMANDMENT STONES
William Whitley, Lord of the manor at Buckland, was a traditionalist, and a religious man. In 1927 a proposal came before the House of Commons to do revise the Book of Common Prayer by replacing the Ten Commandments given to Moses with Jesus' Two Commandments. The proposal was rejected, and to celebrate Whitley hired a stonemason named WA Clements to carve a pair of granite slabs atop Buckland Beacon with the full text of the Ten Commandments.
The exacting work took Clements 5 weeks, during which time he lived in a cow shed by a nearby wood, and received a single loaf of bread per week.
The first stone bears the text of the first 4 Commandments, plus the dates December 15th 1927 - June 14th 1928, when the Bill received Parliamentary readings. There are also 5 lines of a favourite quote of Mr Whitely's. The second stone has the last 6 Commandments, plus one more; the '11th Commandment' is a verse from John 13 v34 that says ''A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.'
That is followed by a verse from the hymn 'Oh God Our Help in Ages Past'. It seems that the original Ten Commandments did not fill the entire space on the second slab, so Whitely and Clements between them had to come up with something to full in the space.
It is not surprising that Clements gained the nickname 'Moses' for his work, though he later claimed with tongue in cheek that unlike Moses he did not have carry the slabs down from the top of the mountain.
The stones are quite easy to find, though an Ordnance Survey map will help. A footpath from the Cold East Cross parking area at grid reference SX740742 leads to the top of the Beacon and the stones are in a wonderful position offering fantastic views over the village below.
