St Paul's Church - Yelverton

The History of Saint Paul's

St Pauls Yelverton- a History

 

yelverton tower northThe story of Yelverton church begins with a meeting in the Temperate Hall in July 1891 at which Charles King (architect of the Plymouth eye infirmary) was commissioned to design a church for 130 people. Eventually in June 1894 residents, rejecting offers of free stone decided on a wooden structure, ultimately to be used as a school, this still remains today as Saint Paul's Church hall.

A proposal to extend the Church Hall in 1898 was rejected in favour of a more permanent church building. However it was a number of years before the plans came to fruition; a donation of half an acre of land and £515 from Misses Bayley led in 1909 to a meeting in the Devon Tors Hotel. Sir Charles Nicholson's plan for the church to seat 350, be "Gothic in style" and cost £4,500 was accepted. By the end of this one meeting £2,989 had been promised with £1,000 coming from the vicarporch small and his wife and the Bayleys a further £1,000. The exterior stone was given by Sir Henry Lopes from his Yennadon Quarries near Dousland. 

Today the exterior of the main building remains mainly unchanged, with the exception of the tower. After the establishment of the aerodrome in 1941 the 65 foot (20 metre) tower carried a red warning light instead of a flagstaff; however on the 28th of May 1944, during the Sunday Morning service, a plane struck the tower, the plane caught fire and crash landed in a field below Meavy Bourne killing the pilot. The damage was severe but the bill was picked up by the air ministry, similar damage also occurred after the tower was struck by lightning in 1957. Leaking has been a persistent issue on the South and West sides of the tower and in 2007 work was completed to render the exterior stone giving the finish as we see it today. 

The interior furnishing brought from the wooden church were gradually replaced, the only original piece being the pulpit, which was made at Buckland for £20 and raised 18 inches when transferred. The cross behind the altar is the work of a parishioner, Mr. R. Price, and today is one of the main focal points in the building. The Bath Stone font was designed by the church's architect, Sir Charles Nicholson, and donated by Lt. Col. R.L. Norrington CMG (churchwarden 1936 - 52) in memory of his wife. The present organ was given by Miss Boger in 1914 in memory of her father. Although the question of having a peal of bells was raised in the 1950's, Yelverton church has just one bell. yelverton tower south view

Yelverton became a separate parish with the arrival of the first vicar Revd. H.M. Harvey on the 22nd October 1935.

 

Text derived from The Parish Church of Saint.Paul, Yelverton by John Gelsthorpe.

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