A Brief History of Saint John’s Church, Horrabridge

now the United Church of Horrabridge

A chapel had been built in Horrabridge by Buckland Abbey around 1256. After the Dissolution a pair of cottages was built on the site. These were pulled down in 1891 to erect the present church which was consecrated by the Bishop of Exeter in 1893. The new church was built of local granite, with a slate roof,  in the Perpendicular style and is probably the finest example of a smaller scale church by the architect George Fellowes Prynne. Caleb Chapple added a wooden bell cote to house a single bell. The entrance porch is a later addition (1913), again to a design by the architect. The building is grade II*

The interior contains many unusual features and the wide Bath stone arches give a feeling of intimacy. Much of the furniture is to Fellowes Prynne's design. The octagonal carved font and rood beam were carved by Harry Hems of Exeter. The choir stalls with flower and foliage carvings, vestry screen and altar rails were the work of James Northcott, ecclesiastical wood carver, of Ashwater near Beaworthy. The pulpit is unusual in being of wrought iron with a brass and wood top. The pews are of half-scissor truss design. The interesting twentieth-century stained glass is by an unknown hand. There is a carved, paneled, reredos with figures of saints. In the chancel there is a pair of large gilded candle holders. As in most of the churches in this area, the organ is by Hele of Plymouth.