St Giles' church - Sidbury, Devon - Romanesque Architecture on Waymarking.com

St Giles' church, Sidbury - Medieval: significant Norman work, Transitional arcades,13th-century transepts, 15th-century porch and internal features. Restoration 1843 by John Hayward. Further restoration by Micklethwaite and Somers Clarke 1884-5 and by Micklethwaite 1898-9.

"The church is an imposing building in the centre of the village, displaying work of various periods, and is surrounded by a churchyard. At the W end is a large and important Norman tower. The second stage has pairs of small Norman windows, those on the W face containing two full-length standing bas-relief figures of a bishop and a saint discovered in 1843 and probably dating from the 12th century.

The S elevation presents the two-storey embattled S porch in the second bay from the W, the gable of the S transept and the Norman chancel.....[which is] faced with ashlar blocks and has a corbel table of grotesque heads round it at eaves level. It has a small round-headed single-light window on both N and S elevations. On the S side there are also a two-light Geometrical window (at the W), a plain priest's door and a two-light Perpendicular window towards the E which is set above an empty tomb recess. The E window is of three lights with 19th-century panelled Perpendicular tracery. Below it is a highly unusual area of Norman chequerwork decoration cut into it in situ. On the N of the chancel is a vestry under a catslide roof and having a series of reused Norman heads in the corbel table.

Beneath the chancel and approached via a trap door is a crypt, 2.82m E-W and 3.2m N-S. This is appears to be pre-Conquest, having been filled in when the Norman chancel was built. The walling is plain, stands to c0.9m and is of chert with quoins of Beer stone.

The structural history of the church appears to be traceable for a thousand years. The small crypt under the chancel is thought to be Saxon and probably represents a relic chamber. There is important and extensive Norman work which suggests the church had attained its present length in the 12th century. The transepts appear to be of the 13th century while there is a late medieval imprint too, as is usual in this area. "

SOURCE - (visit link)

Romanesque or Pre-Romanesque: Romanesque Web site proof of Romanesque or Pre-Romanesque features: [Web Link] Type of building (structure): Church Address: St Giles Sidbury Devon England EX10 0SD Date of origin: Not listed Architect(s) if known: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Logging requirements: Please upload your own personal photo of the building. You or your GPS can be in the picture, but it’s not a requirement.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.