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Between 1908 and 1916, John Stabb, an ecclesiologist and photographer who lived in Torquay, published three volumes of Some Old Devon Churches and one of Devon Church Antiquities. A projected second volume of the latter, regarded by Stabb himself as a complement to the former, did not materialize because of his untimely death on August 2nd 1917, aged 52. Collectively, Stabb's four volumes present descriptions of 261 Devon churches and their antiquities.

COTLEIGH. St. Michael and All Angels. The church consists of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch, and west tower with five bells. The nave is separated from the aisle by three arches, and a lower arch separates the chancel from what was formerly the north chapel. The rood screen is gone, but the staircase remains on the south side behind the pulpit. Over the south door is a board, on which are painted a cherub's head and wings, and the following inscription:-

There are waggon roofs to aisle and nave, and the latter retains some old bosses. The font [plate 72] is octagonal, with a thick central shaft, and eight small ones clustering round. On one panel is carved an eagle, on another a fleur-de-lis, and one panel has a shield, without arms.

The tower is battlemented and has grotesque gargoyles. There was at one time a door in the north aisle, but this and a window at the west end of the aisle have been blocked up.

The registers date: baptisms, 1653; marriages, 1664; burials, 1653.

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Last updated: 2 Jul 2007 - Brian Randell