St. James, Iddesleigh, Devon

Description

The church of St. James is an ancient building in the Gothic style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing 6 bells, of which the first two are dated 1620 and the third 1629; the tenor has an invocation to St. George in old English characters: 2 new bells were added in 1911 to commemorate the coronation of H.M. King George V.: under an obtuse arch in the north aisle is the recumbent cross-legged effigy of a knight in chain mail, covered with a cyclas and bearing a shield, c. 1250, supposed to represent an ancestor of Sir John Sully K.G. a distinguished warrior of the reigns of Edward I. and Edward II. who had "a fair house and two parks" at Iddesleigh, where he died in 1387, age 105: there are memorial windows, erected in 1866, to Hugh Malet, of Ash, d. 1865, and to Maria Louisa Prior: a memorial window has been placed at the east end of the north aisle, by subscription, to Stafford Henry, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh G.C.B., P.C. d. Jan. 12, 1887: the reredos and south chancel window were presented by Mrs. Arnold in 1912 in memory of the late Col. Arnold and Miss Arnold: a new organ was provided in 1897 at a cost of about £120: there are sittings for 120 persons: the church was repaired and partly rebuilt in 1848, at a cost of about £400, and restored in 1879 at an expense of £1,500, and has since been further restored at an additional expense of £300.

Church Records

The parish register dates from the year 1538.

Findmypast, in association with the South West Heritage Trust, Parochial Church Council, and Devon Family History Society have the Baptisms, Banns, Marriages, and Burials online for Iddesleigh