This is an absolutely stunningly beautiful church and dates from 1430 and is
a monument to English Perpendicular Gothic style, it is harmonious and straightforward
whereas its neighbour, Ottery St Mary, is confused. It is a few minutes
off the M5 and is easy to reach. The tower, roof, screen, fan
vaulting are well preserved. The tower and Lane's Aisle were later additions.
A glorious wagon roof coloured in blue, crimson and gold runs the entire length of the church covering the nave and chancel, there being no chancel arch. It is a boarded wagon roof of twenty four bays on angel brackets. The bays are subdivided with moulded ribs and purlins into square panels. The Chancel roof section was
re-coloured and gilded in 1859.
The rood screen runs right across the church. It consists of eleven
bays. The tracery in the bays closely follows the pattern of the windows in the aisles, and the fan tracery of the coving with its ornamental bosses supports the beautifully carved original cornice.
The Jacobean Gallery erected in 1637 and is one of the longest in Devon
and along the front are sixteen figures.
The first major addition to the church was Lane's Aisle, which was built between 1526 and 1529. It is well known for its elaborate fan vaulting. A curious feature of Lane's Aisle is that the fan vaulting does not fit the windows and external buttresses, making it possible that a mistake in the original plan was made.
Cullompton Church is unique throughout England, and possibly the world, in possessing the original carved wooden base of the medieval rood.
During the Middle Ages, it was a common practice to erect a carved representation of the crucifixion scene at Golgotha above the stone or wooden screen, which divided the chancel from the nave in most ancient churches. Hence the screen became known as the rood screen, because the carved figures above it were called the 'rood'. It is sometimes called the "Golgotha" because it is carved with skulls and rocks and crossbones.
It is a matchless representation of medieval craftsmanship and is 17 feet in length and one foot nine inches in diameter and of enormous weight. It is at least 500 years old and is a unique survival of the Reformation.
The great west tower was added in 1545-1549. From the ground to the parapet it measures 100 feet, and the pinnacles are nearly 20 feet higher.
