View of St.Peters, the parish church of Tiverton anno 1784 (1790)

Dunsford, Martin. Historical memoirs of the town and parish of Tiverton. Exeter: M. Dunsford. 1790. pp. 305-309.The parish church of Tiverton is situated upon an eminence at the north-west end of the town, nearly in the centre of a yard that measures an acre and 30 poles, bounded by a wall, about four feet high, which separates it on the North from the moat of the castle, on the West from the like steep declivity, on the edge of which the wall of the castle is built, the foot of it washed by the river Exe, and on the East from the sheep-market and outworks. The wool-chapel, charity-schools, church-house, and buildings of Newport-street and Bell-lane are the boundaries of the yard on the East and South-east. One large gate-way on the South leads into Peter-street, another on the East into Newport-street, and a small door-way at the north-east corner into the castle-yard.The striking picturesque view from this church-yard attracts the attention of most strangers. From the west wall hanging gardens are seen on the declivity, the Exe in a serpentine course half a mile, the hams, a fertile plain of pasture on its banks, the buildings of Westex, and the rising hills beyond. The ruins of the castle, and groupe of venerable trees surrounding, appear on the right; and the prospect is bounded on the left by Exe-bridge.The church, a more respectable Gothic pile than any in Devonshire, except St. Peter's at Exeter, is 136 feet long, and 82 feet wide; and though the work of different and distant ages, more regular than might have been reasonably expected. The front, towards the South, is ornamented with much curious sculpture; and particularly the porch and the chapel adjoining, over the windows of the last of which, on a cornice of white marble, are many of the incidents of the life and actions of Christ in basso relievo, ships with other symbols of trade and commerce, and many figures of animals curiously done on other parts of the walls, which speak the employ and munificence of the founder. These pieces of sculpture are more conspicuous by the chapel standing out a few yards from the wall of the church.Entering the gate-way from Peter-street, and walking up the wide path to the porch, the front of the church hath a noble appearance, which would have been much more venerable, had not the chapel been painted, and the other parts of the front plaistered and white-washed.[…]The tower; built contiguous to the church, within a few yards of the west wall of the yard, 27 feet square at the base, is a strong plain stone building, exactly 100 feet high, to the top of the battlements, and 16 feet high to the top of the pinnacles, above the vanes; between the four pinnacles, are little spires, very common Gothic ornaments. The commanding beautifully diversified prospect from the top of this pile, is well worth the labour of ascending it.Except the ornamental parts, the walls of the church and tower are built of hard durable stone, taken, it is conjectured, from a quarry in the opposite hill, on the west side of the river Exe.[Text may be taken from a different edition than that listed as the source by Somers Cocks.]

Copper l.engr.

142x222mm

S016. DUNSFORD, Martin: HISTORICAL MEMOIRS OF THE TOWN AND PARISH OF TIVERTON.