S.John's
THE BEGINNING
In 1849 the Reverend Charles Leslie Courtenay was appointed Vicar of Bovey Tracey. This was the year of his marrage to Lady Caroline Summers, who was the daughter of the Earl Summers and a Maid of Honour to Queen Victoria.
Shortly after his arrival Father Courtenay not only decided to build a new Vicarage, but also a new Church. This Church to be dedicated to St, John the Evangelist, was to serve as a Chapel of Ease to the Parish Church of Ss. Peter, Paul & Thomas.
A piece of land was obtained on the 'Heath' for this purpose.
A Trust was formed by the 10th Earl of Devon with the consent of the Earl Fortescue and two other gentlemen, and Plans were drawn by Mr. S. Carpenter, who was responsible for the designing of many Tractarian Churches. The Builder was Mr. Richard Locke of Bovey Tracey.
On 26th September 1851 the site for the Clergy House was marked out and building commenced the following Monday. On Monday 20th October 1851 a start was made on the foundations of the new Church. The Corner Stone was laid on Shrove Tuesday, 24th February 1852. Among the many present were Lady Caroline Courtenay, the Archdeacon, Lord Devon, Lady Lewin, Lady Percy, Mr & Mrs Hole of Park. There followed a service of thanksgiving at the Parish Church, the sermon being preached by the Right Reverend Francis Fulford, first Bishop of Montreal.
The Consecration and Dedication of St. John's took place on Thursday 16th June 1853 by Henry Phillpotts, Lord Bishop of Exeter.
Among those present were thr Duke of Bedford, the Duke & Duchess of Somerset, Lord John Russell, Sir Laurence Palk and Sir Thomas Northcott. (The last two were just entering Politics and were friends of the Vicar). Also present were the Chichesters of Stokelake. Sir Thomas Northcott later -- as Lord Iddesleigh -- was one of the signatories to the Deed which created St. John's a separate parish.
The original Church Building consisted of the Chancel, Centre Aisle and South Aisle. The North aisle was added a few years later. In the top photo, on the right, behind the green and yellow bushes, you can see the North Aisle, moving along is the Lady Chapel, then the Vestry and finally the Sanctuary.
Then the pulpit was moved to it's present position, having been on the other side of the Chancel step.
The pulpit was made as a memorial to the Reverend Fredrick Gurney in 1898.
If you turn left as you enter, you will see the font, the two windows by the font depict, Jesus saying ' Sufer the little children to come unto me'and the baptism of Jesus by Saint John the Baptist. At the time of the Dedication and Consecration of the Church, the first baby to be baptised at st John's, by Canon Courtenay, was Edwin Tapper, son of George and Elizabeth Tapper.
Lady Caroline Courtenay made the Christening robe and the smocking around the yoke was done by Queen Victoria herself.
This Christening gown was kept at St John's for the use of all the children Baptised in our Church but sadly it was taken away to be altered by a lady and never returned.
style="margin:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:Arial;">The Sacred Heart Statue was placed in the corner behind the Font, the outstretched arms welcoming the newly baptised.
Stage 1 Will take you to a Plaque on the wall of the church. You are looking for the date the Captain was born DD/ YYYY= AB / CDDE
Stage 2 Wil take you to the notice board by the gate, just inside the wall you need the website at the bottom of the board and the church number DDFG
The Cache can be found at N 50 (A + C) F. A (C+ E) (D+C) W 003 A*2 G.(B-C)F C
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