Alfington Church and its links to Sir John Coleridge

Brief notes compiled by Angela Harlow

St James and St Anne's Church, Alfington

"St James' and St Anne's Church was erected in 1849 and maintained at the expense of Sir John Taylor Coleridge as a chapel-of-ease for the residents of Alfington, who had previously been required to travel to the parish church of Ottery St Mary. Coleridge commissioned William Butterfield to design the church, who at the time was working on the restoration of the parish church at Ottery St Mary.[2] Coleridge would also have a parsonage and school constructed for the village, both of which were designed by Butterfield.
A burial ground was added to the church in 1876 and consecrated on 29 September that year, followed by the addition of a vestry in 1882. Alfington became its own parish in 1882, which prompted Coleridge's son to hand the church over to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who agreed to provide an endowment of £150 a year. A consecration service was performed on 29 September 1882 by the Bishop of Exeter, Frederick Temple, with the assistance of the Bishop of Ely, James Woodford."

Source: Wikipedia.
 

John Patteson (bishop)

"John Coleridge Patteson (1 April 1827 – 20 September 1871) was an English Anglican bishop, missionary to the South Sea Islands." 

Source: Wikipedia.
 

Patteson, John Coleridge (1827–1871)

"On 25 September 1853, he was ordained as deacon and curate of Alfington, and on 24 September 1854 was ordained priest at Exeter Cathedral. On a visit in the summer of 1854, George Augustus Selwyn, the first Bishop of New Zealand, recruited Patteson as a missionary to the South Seas. Patteson left England with the bishop in March 1855. He died in 1871 - killed by natives."

Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography.