Discover Plymtree

Plymtree can be explored through specific historical details. The parish church of St John the Baptist, with its works of art and churchyard, provides a clear focus for its architectural and church history. Six historically recorded footpaths are also part of the parish’s history. In addition, there are different building histories, with dates and surviving features that are easy to distinguish from one another.

Church, works of art and churchyard

The painted rood screen at St John the Baptist dates from the late 15th century and has 34 painted panels. On the west side of the church, a medieval stone sculpture of the Virgin and Child stands in a niche. Another figurative work is the 16th-century alabaster panel, which depicts the risen Christ and Roman soldiers. It is thought to have originated in Flanders. Thus, the church contains three distinct works of art: a painted rood screen, a niche sculpture and an alabaster panel.

The details of these works highlight different features: for the rood screen, the number of panels and its date are notable; for the sculpture, its subject and position on the west side are key. The alabaster panel brings together its material, scene and cautious attribution. These distinctions help you keep the church’s individual features in view without confusing the works with one another.

The churchyard also has its own historical features. It contains a Celtic cross made of Dartmoor granite. The ancient yew is said to be more than 1,100 years old. The churchyard therefore brings together two very different things: a cross whose material and classification are specified, and a tree with a remarkable, though only attributed, age.

Historically recorded footpaths

Six footpaths have been recorded for the parish of Plymtree. They were identified during the original survey under Section 27 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and entered on the Definitive Map and Statement with the relevant date of 5 November 1957. This places their recording in its historical context; before setting out on a particular walk, you should also check the conditions for the route. This helps distinguish the paths’ historical background from the practical planning of a walk.

Building history across several periods

Pencepool Farmhouse has external timber framing on its front section, a feature that is very rare in rural Devon. Little Clyst William Farmhouse is notable for a different reason: the building is listed at Grade II*. The rare timber framing and the Grade II* listing therefore describe two distinct aspects to bear in mind when looking at historic buildings.

Woodbeer Court has an especially clear sequence of building periods. The building dates from the late 15th to the early 16th century and was extensively improved in the later 16th century, the 17th century and the early 18th century. It also retains an unusually high proportion of early windows. The adjacent farm buildings form a group dating from the early 18th century. They include a cider house containing the remains of a press.

At Woodbeer Court, several layers of building history can therefore be considered together: the building’s early origins, later improvements and surviving features, as well as the group of farm buildings. The cider house adds the remains of a press to these architectural features. Pencepool Farmhouse and Little Clyst William Farmhouse offer different points of interest: external timber framing in the first case and a Grade II* listing in the second. These differences make the individual building histories more concrete than a general look at old buildings could.

For the wider travel overview: Devon.