Norman Doorway, Axminster Church
The oldest existing work is the Saxon masonry in the bases of some of the central Norman towers—those of Branscombe, Axminster, and Colyton, for example, and in the crypt of Sidbury. No church is wholly or even largely Norman; but the transeptal towers of Exeter Cathedral are of this period, as are the towers of South Brent, Ilfracombe, and Aveton Gifford, in addition to those named above. There are also fine Norman doorways at Paignton, Kelly, Axminster, Hartland, Bishop's Teignton, and elsewhere. In at least a hundred churches, most of which probably possess no other feature of the time, there are Norman fonts, of which the most remarkable are those at Hartland, Alphington, and Bradsworthy. The font in Dolton church is believed to be Saxon.
Ottery St Mary Church
Perhaps the best examples of Early English architecture are to be seen in the aisles and transeptal towers—the latter imitated from those of Exeter Cathedral—of the very beautiful church of Ottery St Mary, the finest and most interesting church in Devon. The plain little building on Brent Tor, one of the smallest of churches, measuring only forty feet by fourteen, is probably all Early English. The churches of Sampford Peverell, Haccombe, and Aveton Gifford are almost entirely of this period, as are the transepts and central tower of Combe Martin and the tower of Buckfastleigh, which carries one of the few spires in the county.