Plympton St Mary Church

Plympton St Mary is a vast parish, covering well over 10,000 acres, with an ancient village on the main road from Plymouth to Exeter. To-day it is almost a suburb of Plymouth and has doubled its numbers since 1900. An Augustinian priory was founded at Plympton St. Mary in 1121, but a collegiate church of St. Peter and St. Paul had existed here from the time of Alfred. Plympton priory became the second richest monastery in Devon and Cornwall, exceeded only by Tavistock Abbey. Plymouth owes its origin to the priory. Plympton church (St. Mary) stood in the churchyard of the original church, hence its comparative isolation to-day. It stands in a lawn-like churchyard, a handsome building of early 14th and 15th century date, built largely of granite with a tower (108 ft.) There is a mixture of decorated and perpendicular styles.