St John the Baptist
Hatherleigh, Devon
A church in Hatherleigh is mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086 as 'Hadrelaia', but no trace of the pre-Norman structure remains above the ground.
St Michael & All Angels is a small rural church clearly visible approaching Meeth on the A386 from the north or the south. The village has a pub The Bull & Dragon and a glued laminated timber business. The Devon Wildlife Trusts Nature Reserve and the Tarka Trail are a short distance away.
The origins of Meeth lie in the late Saxon period forming one of the early Christian communities of Devon, it is mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. Recent archaeology showed evidence of an earlier Saxon church on the site. Three medieval graves found are from at least two phases.
There is an attractive cobble path laid in 1818 as you approach the church through its early Norman porch. It has retained many of its original Norman features with additions from the 14th and 15th centuries. Angels and fine bosses carved in wood look down from the 15th century wagon roof.
There is a Norman font here with a lid that was added by Tudor craftsmen as was the semi octagonal panelled pulpit. The beautifully modelled plaster Queen Ann coat of arms dated 1704 celebrates two church wardens of the time and is thought to be the work of John Abbot of Frithelstock
There is a large, open churchyard, with 18th and 19th century gravestones of grey slate some with verse inscriptions. The most famous burial (noted in Hoskins) is Revd John Lamprière, Rector 1811-24, compiler of the ‘Bibliotheca Classica’ (1788 still in print).
The church has a three stage, unbuttressed, square tower, in dressed grey granite blocks with four plain pinnacles. There is no west door, but a two light mullion window with segmented heads. A rectangular stair projection extends half way up the north side of the tower, accessed through an oak door of 14th century origin. There is a tiny Norman window on the north side of the staircase.
The four bells are all listed: two bells are early medieval, from Exeter. The other two by Johannes Stadler of Chulmleigh, 1714. All four have six cannons intact. The oak frame with timber headstocks is by Henry Stokes of Woodbury, 1902.
