Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a church likely dating to the 8th century, with substantial additions and alterations between the 11th and 16th centuries, and a restoration in 1913. It is constructed of dressed sandstone and limestone, with a low-pitched, graduated green slate roof and a porch roof of sandstone flags. The church consists of a tall, narrow four-bay nave, an aisleless chancel, a south porch, and a north vestry, along with a west tower.

The nave has quoins, a chamfered plinth, and north and south walls containing two windows likely from the 8th century. These windows have monolithic round-arched heads, original rear-arches, and deeply splayed internal sills. The north-west window features an external moulding of concentric circles; the rear-arch of the north-east window has a wheatear moulding. Two 13th-century lancets are set in the north wall, along with one in the south wall, both retaining 8th-century rear-arches. Two 2-light, Perpendicular-style windows are in the south wall, with a massive, probably 14th-century buttress to the right. A course of herringbone masonry is visible approximately 2 metres above ground level in the north wall, partially obscured by the later 19th-century north vestry. A slightly projecting 15th-century battlemented parapet, with one original water spout, runs along the south wall.

The chancel, lower and narrower and likely dating to the late 12th century, also has a chamfered plinth and a 15th-century battlemented parapet. Three lancets are in the south wall and two in the north wall, with chamfered reveals and pointed, splayed rear-arches. The buttressed east end has two round-headed lancets under a continuous hoodmould with nailhead decoration and splayed rear-arches.

The west tower, built mid-13th century, has quoins, a chamfered plinth, a ground floor lancet in the west wall, and three lancets above with pointed heads and chamfered reveals. The original roof line is visible in the east wall, and a corbel table supports a restored 15th-century battlemented parapet.

The probably 16th-century porch has quoins, a chamfered round-arched entrance, and an elaborate sundial with a plaque dated 1773. The returns have slit lancets with wide internal splays, and a low-pitched stone-flagged roof supported by two slightly pointed and chamfered transverse ribs. A blocked opening with a fragmentary shaft and re-set head corbel is above the south door within the porch.

Inside the church, the nave has a round-headed piscina in the south wall near the chancel arch. The south wall of the chancel has a piscina with a pointed head, a slightly projecting stoup, and an aumbry with a broken trefoiled head and a carved relief of a hand raised in blessing on the rear wall; both have borders with nailhead decoration. The double-chamfered pointed chancel arch, restored in 1920, springs from double-head corbels and has a pointed hoodmould above with an original head corbel to the right. The nave and chancel roofs date to 1920, featuring 3 and 5 King-post trusses respectively. The double-chamfered pointed tower arch, resting on corbels with dogtooth moulding, has chamfered jambs with bar stops. The church contains 18th-century panelled box pews in the nave and chancel, along with three original brass name plates. A wooden polygonal pulpit with classical details, likely from around 1579, is present. A medieval or possibly 17th-century round font with a moulded base, cylindrical shaft, and floral border is accompanied by a possibly 17th-century wooden font cover.