Adventure and adventurers > Black's guide to the counties of Dorset, Devon, & Cornwall

166 BRANCH ROUTE HONXTON TO BUDLEIGH-SALTERTON.
BRANCH ROUTE—HONITON to BUDLEIGH-SALTERTON,
14 Miles.
A Ramble along the Otter, to its confluence with the
Channel, may he recommended to the pedestrian. He will keep
the Exeter road as far as Fenny Bridges—on the right, FENI-
TON (population, 366), with its old Church, containing an ancient
screen, and a fine altar-tomb supporting the effigy of an emaciated
corpse ; and Feniton Court, lately the seat of the Right Hon.
Sir John Patteson ; a hye-lane, on the left, then crosses the
Otter, and descends into OTTERY ST. MARY (population, 4100.
Inns: King’s Arms, Red Lion, and London Hotel. Market, Thurs¬
day), 162 miles from London, 2 miles from the Ottery road Station,
11 miles from Exeter, and' 6 miles from Sidmouth. Here the great
attraction, apart from the charm of the scenery, is the ancient
Church of Saints Mary and Edward, originally founded by
Edward the Confessor, and bestowed upon the Abbey of Rouen ;
rebuilt by Bishop Bronescombe, 1257-1280; completed, and con¬
verted into a collegiate church by Bishop Grandison, about 1340.
Having recently undergone a' thorough and well-directed renova¬
tion, it will afford the student a grateful subject for patient study.
The West Front, with its three storeys, will remind him of
Exeter Cathedral, from which it was apparently imitated. The
doorway is deeply recessed, and surmounted by a five-light win¬
dow. A niche in the gable exhibits a figure of the Virgin Mary,
co-patron of the church. The South Tower is Early English ;
its string-course terminates in fantastic corbel heads, and in each
face is inserted three lancets. The North Tower is crowned by
a spire. The Choir extends three bays into the nave, and is
paved with Minton’s encaustic tiles. The Nave (Perpendicular)
and Chancel have each, we think, six bays. The Lady Chapel
is in the Decorated style of Edward III.’s reign, while the Dorset
chapel, on the north-west side of the nave, is Perpendicular, with
a rich groined roof, and exhibits the arms of Bishops Courtenay
(1478-87) and Vesey (1519- ). Over each of the arches sup¬
ported by the nave-columns observe a niche for a statue. The
ceiling of the nave is very rich.
The stone reredos has been effectively restored by Blore.
The canopied niches in the rear of the altar appear to have been
intended for pictures. Brackets for images are placed on either