St Mark's Church, Dawlish

St Mark's was built as a chapel of ease to the parish church of St Gregory, at a time when accommodation at the parish church had become inadequate to meet the needs of the growing town. The parish church was at an "inconvenient distance" for a good proportion of the town and it was also felt that the church did not have an adequate number of free sittings for the poorer inhabitants. Among the contributors to the building fund for the new church was the owner of Luscombe Castle, Charles Hoare, who contributed £1,000, along with a further £1,000 towards its endowment, and his wife, who gave a further £1,000. The plans for St Mark's were drawn up by the architect John Hayward of Exeter. It…