Sidmouth Parish Church - Reordering

The Parish received permission in August to reorder the nave and side aisles of the church and the picture above also shows the new altar platform at the East end of the nave. There will be a level floor, new redwood benches to replace the worm-eaten pews and preserve the look of the Victorian church, but with better designed seats. There will be new heating and lighting throughout, the latter will enhance the architectural features of the church and enable more atmospheric effects to be created. The new space created around the nave altar will also give more scope for the church to be used for musical and other events.

On March 23rd at the Church Council meeting it was decided to begin the project after Easter and Ellis and Co, a well-respected West Country firm of conservation builders was engaged to carry out the work. It is expected that the work will take between six to eight months and that the church, which will be closed after Easter, will reopen for services in December.

Archaeological Discoveries With the old wooden floor lifted in May, the outlines of the earlier church could be seen. The remains of the 15th Century church have been revealed, with a nave and large North Aisle. Below that was an earlier 13th or 14th Century church with a smaller aisle and, very excitingly, a Norman church beneath that again, built with beach boulders and packed with shingle. It had a nave and tower and small transepts were also added to make the design similar to Branscombe Church, further East along the coast.

On 13th December 2009 - just after the 750th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Church to St Nicholas on 6th December 1259 - we returned to the beautifully refurbished church, ready to begin a new chapter in its long life of service to the people of Sidmouth.

The cost of this project has been over £600,000 and there is still opportunity to contribute to it. If you would like to, please follow the link.

Photos of the Work

Archaeological discoveries: Footings of the medieval walls and remains of the Norman church made with beach boulder material.

Pictures of the completed church just before Christmas 2009: The new altar furniture; the nave; the north aisle showing the new movable benches; the rood and new chancel colouring.