Bridgerule, Devon
Church of St Bridget, Bridgerule, Devon consists of chancel, nave, south aisle, north transept Lady Chapel , south porch, and west tower of Ashlar granite with 5 bells dating from the 18c .   It stands in an elevated position in open countryside on the edge of the village which is mentioned  (as Brige) in the 1086 Domesday Survey , when the local manor was held by a Norman, Ruald Adobed who added his name
The chancel, nave &amp; north transept are 13c
Mid 14c the chancel was extended and the nave enlarged  (One 14c window opening remains, in the north wall) 
The south transept was enlarged in the first half of the  15c as a 5-bay south aisle with granite piers. followed by the building of the three stage west tower and south porch 
The 15c wagon roofs remain, with bosses and angels on the wall plate. 
The 15c south porch retains its original timber roof within, with carved beams, bosses and wall plates.   Above the external door is the image of a saint over a niche with a sundial of c1800. 

The church was restored in 1723 when west gable end of south aisle was rebuilt,, and again in 1878 by J. P. St Aubyn, when the vestry was added to the north side of the chancel and slate floors were laid. The rood screen, baptistery screen and reredos date to f889-1907 
Chancel reroofed 1897, north transept roof 1905, roof reslated 1985-6.

Two pieces of medieval glass were incorporated in the east window of the aisle.  <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/P62B05HAH1">www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/P62B05HAH1</a>

The modern chancel screen under a wagon roof, has Rood figures at the top, once with 3 candles on each side. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/1YG4qz4X8X">www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/1YG4qz4X8X</a>   The lower panels have paintings of the 12 Apostles after the statues of the same in Amiens Cathedral <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/2UzSHGtZuG">www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/2UzSHGtZuG</a>
The Saxon or very early Norman font is of unusual shape, <a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/NM30S72c6g">www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/NM30S72c6g</a> it is formed from one large block of stone,  not quite circular as the west side is flatter than the east; at the base a piece appears to have been cut out, and at a later period filled in again, possibly at one time it was against a pillar. 
There is a baptistery at the west end with modern screens. The tower screen has paintings of the Annunciation, Nativity, and Epiphany.   To the west are 2 panels are paintings of the Presentation and Christ among the Doctors on the south side, and the Baptism of Jesus, and Christ Blessing the Children on the north.  The screens are surmounted by figures of Christ with a little child in His arms, and the angels of Life and Death. 

On the north nave wall are pictures and carvings and a Greek icon, a painting of the Nativity on copper. This was saved from a Russian church in the Crimean war 1853-54 by a sapper in the Royal Engineers and presented by him to the officer commanding his company, Lieut. Mervin Drake, who in turn gave them to John Somers James by whom it was presented to the church here. The oak carvings hung on the wall represent the Annunciation, Baptism, Crucifixion and Descent from the Cross.

On the south side of the aisle is a slate tablet to a young wife probably a member of the Gilbert family of Tackbeare Manor, : 
&quot;My marriage and my funerall
 Few months asunder, may cause all
 My friends to mourne, none blameth that
 Yet Mary song's Magnificat
Mary I be Exalted
 Removed from this world exalted high
 To that pure life of immortality
 Blest soule thou art, what means this weeping
 The mayden wife she'es not dead but sleeping.&quot;

The registers date from 1702.

The village lies on both sides of the Tamar Valley. The western side was in Cornwall until 1844 when the county boundary was adjusted to bring it totally into Devon however the two halves of the parish were not finally combined into one in 1950.

Picture with thanks - copyright Ian <a href="http://www.cornishchurches.com/Bridgerule Church Devon - St. Bridget/index.htm" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.cornishchurches.com/Bridgerule%20Church%20Devon%20-%2...</a>
bridgerule church devon