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CHURCHES, CHAPELS AND PLACES OF WORSHIP  |  ANCIENT PARISH CHURCHES

STOKE DAMEREL PARISH CHURCH

The Ancient Parish Church of Stoke Damerel is situated in Paradise Road, Devonport.

The Ancient Parish Church of Stoke Damerel, Plymouth.
From a postcard.

It is the only Church in the Plymouth area to boast a rector as opposed to a vicar, which indicates that it was not founded as an off-shoot of Plympton Priory.  This suggests that it was originally a chapel built for the private use of the lord of the manor.  Slowly it would have been used by his tenants and eventually the villagers to save them the long trek to the Church of Saint Andrew's in Plymouth.  His lordship would also have provided the rector with glebe land from which to provide for his salary.  [1]

The earliest surviving documentary evidence of the Church is in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas IV compiled between 1288 and 1291, which shows it as contributing £3 6s 8d compared to Plymouth's £5 6s 8d.  [2]

The only other parish churches in the area at that time were at Eggbuckland, Tamerton Foliot and Plymouth Saint Andrew's. 

The first rector we know of was Henry le Megre who was presented with the living by Sir Hugh de Courtenay, lord of the manor, in 1310.  [1]

Officially, Stoke Damerel Parish Church has no dedication.  Because the entrance piers contained two rude granite heads said to represent Saint Andrew and the Virgin Mary, it has in the past been claimed that these refer to its dedication but there is no evidence to support the claim.  [2]

Worth states that around 1670 the Church consisted of just the chancel, nave and tower  [2].  The embattled western tower, with its pinnacles, is said to date from the late 15th century and is reputedly the oldest building in Devonport  [1]

In 1553 the tower already had four bells at a time when Plymouth's Saint Andrew's Church still had none.  [1]

For a long time Stoke Damerel Church had only one aisle.  A second aisle was added on the northern side in 1710 thanks to the generosity of an officer of the Royal Dockyard by the name of Mr Richard Young.  [1]

During 1750/51 a third aisle was constructed on the southern side and tradition says that it was built using old material from the Royal  Navy's battleships because the Admiralty had no money to donate to the project.  A south entrance was also added and a gallery was erected along the length of the western wall.  At the same time box pews and a three-tier carved, wooden pulpit were installed.  This extension resulted in the unusual fact that the Church was now wider than it was long.  [1]

During an inspection of the bells in 1778 it was discovered that three of them were cracked.  At the end of that year the Bishop of Exeter granted a licence to have the existing four bells recast and increased to six bells by Mr Thomas Bilbie of Cullompton, Devon.  The peel was hung on August 3rd 1789  [3] and rung for the first time that same year when HRH King George III passed by on his way to the Royal Dockyard.  [1]

The bells were subsequently re-hung by Mr William Aggett of Chagford.  [4]

A church clock was installed in 1811 and bears the inscription "Richard Rodd and George Snowdon, churchwardens".  [2]

The earliest published description of the Church is dated 1812  [4a]:

'The Church is built at a little distance from the town close by the higher end of Stonehouse Creek, and is a most inconvenient situation for the parishioners, being on one side of the parish.  It is not known at what period, or by whom, this edifice was erected, but it seems originally to have consisted of one aisle only, and a tower of handsome workmanship; the subsequent increase of the inhabitants occasioned a second aisle to be erected, some years after the beginning of the last century; and about 1750, a third aisle was built, from the same cause.  By these additions, what was at first the breadth, has now become the length of the building.  At the west end is a spacious gallery.  The living is considered to be the best in the diocese of Exeter; the patronage is in the Lord of the Manor.'

It went on to say that the officiating Curate was the Reverend John Hawker, who lived at the Rectory, and the Churchwardens were Mr Robert Rodd, of Saint Aubyn Street, and Mr George Snowden, of Chapel Street.  [4a]

A more detailed description of Stoke Damerel Church was published in 1823  [4b]:

'The parish church of Stoke-Damerel, though inconveniently situated at the southern extremity of the parish, is generally attended by large congregations.  Few public buildings posses so little pretension to architectural distinction; it contains three aisles, which appear to have been constructed at different periods, according to the dictates of convenience.  The original edifice is supposed to have consisted of a single aisle, and the tower; which doubtless presented a regular and pleasing appearance, but as its relative situation with regard to the whole structure has been altered by subsequent additions, so has its venerable aspect been destroyed by the white-washings which the taste of the church-wardens occasionally bestow, by way of ornament.  The principal entrance on the south has been greatly improved by the recent erection of a commodious porch.'

'The area of the interior is laid out to the best advantage, for the accommodation of the greatest possible number of persons.  A spacious gallery occupies the western side of the church: there is no organ, but a good choir of singers assisted by instrumental music.'

As regards the Curate, the Reverend John Hawker, the author states: 'In discharging the sacred duties of so populous a parish, this gentleman has a most arduous task to fulfil.'

After listing some of the monuments to be seen inside, the author goes on to describe the churchyard  [4a]:

'The burying ground, though very extensive, has not been found adequate to the mortality of the increased population of the parish; in consequence of which, a piece of ground, adjoining the old churchyard, has been enclosed and consecrated as a cemetery.  Neither the inscriptions, not eh sculptural efforts, numerous as they are, deserve particular notice; and the same observation may be applied to the monuments in the interior of the church, as both will be regarded rather as proofs of affection, than of the taste of those who erected them.'

The chancel was rebuilt in 1868.  [1]

In the Churchyard is the gravestone of EPOP NHOJ (or John Pope) who, the stone tells us, lived for 31,755 days.  [1] Also in the Churchyard is the grave of 35-years-old John Boynes, a stone mason in His Majesty's Dock Yard, who drowned in July 1815 while returning from viewing Napolean Boneparte in Plymouth Sound.  He was buried on August 11th 1815.  [4c]  Following a proposal to turn the Church into a cathedral for Devonport, Mr William D Caröe (1857-1938) designed a new Rectory and a new Church.   On Saturday November 29th 1902, in drenching rain, the Bishop of Exeter, Doctor Ryle, laid the foundation stone of the Church in the great sanctuary field overlooking what was described as 'the present dilapidated and mean looking building which it will replace'.  The work was to be carried out in four sections, the first to include a morning chapel and vestry at a cost of £4,000.  [5] After luncheon in the parish church school-room, the Rector, the Reverend S Gordon Ponsonby, led the Bishop and guests to the great sanctuary field for the ceremony.  The field had been covered with wooden planks to avoid the mud created by the incessant rain but there was little overhead shelter.  [5]

The gravestone of John Boynes at Stoke Damerel Church, Devonport. ©  Mr George Nicolle Buy a Copy.

The stone bore the inscription: 'To the glory of God this stone was laid on St Andrew's eve in the year 1902, being the year of the Coronation of King Edward VII., by Herbert Edward, Lord Bishop of Exeter.'  The Bishop was presented with a silver trowel by the clergy and churchwardens of Stoke Damerel and a handsome mallet, adorned with the Bishop's arms, by the contractor.  [5] 

Among the noted guests were the Mayor and Mayoress of Devonport, Mr & Mrs J C Tozer and the Mayor and Mayoress of Plymouth, Mr & Mrs H Hurrell.  [5]

When completed it would have accommodated 1,358 worshippers but in the event only the Lady Chapel was ever built.  The chancel was shortened again in 1904 when this proposal was abandoned.  [1]

The Lady Chapel was demolished in 1967.  [1]

The parish records are held at the Plymouth & West Devon Records Office in Clare Place, Sutton Road, Plymouth.

Sources:

[1]  Gray, Patricia, "The Haunt of Grave-Robbers and Murderers: The History of Stoke Damerel Church, Devonport", published privately, 1979.

[2] Worth, R N, "History of the town and borough of Devonport, sometime Plymouth Dock", published by William Brendon, Plymouth, 1870.

[3]  Source not recorded.

[4]  Worth, F Stuart, "The Rings of Church Bells in the City of Plymouth", published by the author, Plymouth, 1952.

[4a]  "Picture of Plymouth", Rees and Curtis, Plymouth, 1812.

[4b]  "The Tourist's Companion being a Guide to the Towns of Plymouth, Plymouth-Dock, Stonehouse, Morice-Town, Stoke, and their Vicinities", Messrs Longman Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, London, 1823.

[4c]  Information and photo courtesy of Mr George Nicolle, Devon Headstone Photos, Plymouth, 2011.

[5]  "Stoke Damerel New Church: Foundation-stone Laying", Western Morning News, Plymouth, December 1st 1902.

©  Brian Moseley, Plymouth, UK

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