Church of St Mary the Virgin

The Church of St Mary the Virgin stands in the small village of Bickington, Devon. Built in the fifteenth century, the church is a Grade I listed building of limestone with an embattled tower and restored pinnacles. Its circular raised churchyard and the old lane that doglegs past the building suggest it may have been built on a pre-Norman Christian burial ground. The north aisle was added in the sixteenth century, and the church was extensively restored in 1884. The interior features carvings by Harry Hems of Exeter, including the lectern and credence table, and a reredos designed by R. Medley Fulford. The church’s history includes its time as a daughter church of Ashburton and its reunion with Ashburton in 1952. The Bickford family, who owned estates in Bickington for 600 years, left many memorials in the church. The screen, demolished in 1825, survives in fragments, some incorporated into the modern low screen and choir stalls. The Wrigwell Pew in the north chapel is named after the family’s estate. A fifteenth-century lych gate rebuilt in 1901 stands on the south side of the church. The gate’s upper floor, reached by steps, has served as a meeting room, a cobbler’s shop, and even a room for the poor. The church’s bells, once numbering 111 in 1553, were recast and restored over the centuries, with the fifth tenor bell featuring a crowned headstock. The interior also includes a small chamber on the east side of the lych gate, used for various purposes over time.