Ottery St Mary
 Stately Homes |
A pleasant little town situated on the banks of the River Otter amidst the beautiful farming countryside of east Devon. The town's showpiece is its high-set parish Church of St Mary, one of the finest in England.
The church may well seem too good for a sleepy little Devon town, and it certainly had more modest beginnings in the 13 th century, but between 1338-42 it was massively rebuilt under the instruction of John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter. Having completed the construction of Exeter Cathedral in the 14 th century, the bishop then took to rebuilding St Mary's as a collegiate church for a community of priests. The church was rebuilt with Exeter Cathedral much in his mind; the completed structure is noble in the extreme and later additions do nothing but enhance it.
The interior is rich in medieval craftsmanship; the clerestory light reveals all the fine carved detail, starting with the impact of the Grandisson tombs, canopied effigies picked-out in pale stone between pillars of the nave. The Dorset aisle, a 16 th century addition, is highlighted by exquisite tracery within the high fan-vaulted roof, and incorporates some unusual capital carvings including two owls and an elephant. The lectern's eagle is a gilded bird wearing an air of benign enquiry, presented to the church by Bishop Grandisson; of interest too is an ancient astronomical clock still in working order.
The selected monuments also have a fascination. There is a red-breeched, booted and spurred cavalier of the 17 th century, as well as an effigy of Sir Otto de Grandisson, the bishop's brother who died in 1358 wearing full armour and sporting a droopy moustache. A humbler stone commemorates the Reverend John Coleridge, Vicar of Ottery St Mary in the late 18 th century, and also headmaster of the local grammar school. The Rev. Coleridge was a studious and somewhat eccentric man who read Hebrew to his farming congregation each week, because it was the language of the Holy Ghost. He also found time to sire 13 children, the youngest of whom was the noted poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). A memorial tablet set in the churchyard wall, depicting his profile and an albatross, recalls the poet's birth here.
Westwards from the church lies a large building, Charter's House, the home of the Coleridge family. Two other buildings of note standing nearby are the Warden's House and the Vicar's House. In Paternoster Row are several good examples of 18 th century town houses with dated rainwater heads (1759-79). In the lower part of town, in Jesu Street, is a nonconformist church built of brick in 1664, one of the earliest in England.
Just upstream from Ottery St Mary, where the Otter flows peaceably through water meadows, is Cadhay, a delightful Tudor manor house complemented by its striking Elizabethan courtyard. Built in 1550 by successful lawyer John Hadden, the house is approached along an avenue of lime trees and is open to the public throughout the summer months.