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Okehampton Church - All Saints - Inside

Church History
A Church has stood on this hill since Saxon times when the little hilltop village of Ocmundtune was closely grouped around its (probably wooden) Church and surrounded on all sides by dense forests. With the building of Okehampton Castle soon after 1066, present day Okehampton began to develop in the river valley and the little Saxon village was progressively abandoned.

It is certainly known that a Church existed here prior to the first recorded consecration by Bishop Bronescombe of Exeter in 1261. The lovely medieval building, which resulted from a further re-building in 1447, was destroyed by fire in 1842. It was rebuilt again to this plan, by Hayward .The 80 foot granite ashlar tower alone survived the blaze and was incorporated into the rebuilt Church which, although somewhat larger, was designed, more or less on the lines of the previous one.

Central Aisle looking toward the east window and the altar.

"We try to offer a range of worship to suit all tastes from informal to formal, from modern to traditional. If you would like to join us you will be most welcome"
Stephen Cook

The reredos (left) is of stone and was built in 1891 by Hems and the choir stalls and altar rails date from 1892

There are remains of the old stone reredos (right) against the west wall of the south aisle

The organ is reputed to be one of the finest in Devon.

The pulpit is a little older, buing installed in 1872.
There are several fine stained glass windows in the church, notably one south window by Morris and Co. (left) depicting St Cecilia and the Angels.
The North Window is by the Kemp studios and others are by Ward and Hughes.
In the Lady Chapel there is a small section of medieval glass displayed in a cabinet beside the altar.
The roof lends itself to some dramatic lighting whilst it is almost impossible to get a good photo of the font due to the very pleasing evidence of use by the younger parishioners in the background
All Saints, apart from being a lovely place to spend a quiet, reflective time, also has the distinction of having it's own resident Church Mouse together with a dedication to someone with "a deep love of God's animal world" who was "killed whilst out hunting"
p.s. The insurance company have agreed that the chuch may be kept open and the curate is currently putting together a rota for opening it at least between 10 - 4. As soon as this is in operation, this page will be updated.