St Clement
Dartmouth, Devon
The mother church of Dartmouth and standing some 350ft above the main town on the narrow tract which, since ancient times, has been a right-of-way from the coast through Longcross to the River Dart crossing at Hardnesse.
Welcome to St Saviour's church in the lower town, constructed in the middle ages when the town began to develop on the foreshore of the river and parishioners no longer wished to struggle up the hill to reach the parish church of St Clement. Although permission was gained in 1286 it wasn't consecrated until 1372 after nearly 90 years of wrangling!
St Saviour's is considered to be one of the best 1000 churches in England and features in Simon Jenkins' 'England's Thousand Best Churches' and Tod Gray's 'Devon's Fifty Best Churches'. Of particular interest is the large memorial brass to John Hawley, believed to be Chaucer's 'Shipman' in the Canterbury Tales as well as the major donor of funds to construct the building and (in)famous local politician. Other important features are the beautiful altar dating from James I, the ornate rood screen and the south door with its medieval ironwork.