Dartmouth is a sheltered and picturesque harbour town located in hilly country approximately 13 miles SE of Totnes, on the main coastal road from Exeter to Plymouth. The church, now surrounded by buildings mostly of later period, is built on a rise over looking the Victorian quay. The main approach is through the S porch. The church has undergone numerous alterations over the centuries, from the fifteenth to the twentieth. However, it retains some remarkable early features -- a handsome late 15th c. rood screen, still in the original position, an ornate and colourful Elizabethan altar (replacing a medieval stone altar) and an Elizabethan oak pulpit.
A probable performance venue. Owned by the town between 1586 and 1835, the church would have been a fine space for use by visiting players.
Still the principal parish church of Dartmouth, open at specified times and for services.
1335 Oratory built on the site. 1372 Church dedicated to the Holy Trinity. by 1440 Church, by then known as St Saviour's, completed. 1480 Rood screen installed. 1620 S porch built. ca. 1630 Extensive renovations. Tower raised, N and S aisles rebuilt, gallery added at the W end of the nave.
1815 Choir pews replaced in the chancel. 1817 Galleries added along the N and S aisles. 1823 W doorway built in the tower. 1881 Major renovations by E.H. Sedding, a Plymouth architect. New granite windows inserted (including 2 small rose windows over the 2 porches); all stonework repaired; N and S galleries removed and the W end gallery moved further W. Chancel renovated with the addition of oak choir stalls and removal of the early 19th c. corporation pews to the nave. Permission was granted for a N porch door to match the older S door.
REED Devon 62--9
