Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church dating back to the early 13th century, with additions and alterations made over the centuries. A north vestry was added in the 15th century, and a west stair turret was constructed. Further changes occurred in 1864 when J.A. Cory restored the building, adding an organ chamber and a north porch. The church is built of dressed sandstone with graduated green slate roofs.

The west tower features a stair turret, and the aisled nave has aisles that engage the tower. A north and south porch flank the building, and a chancel is located to the east. Most of the windows are in a 19th-century Perpendicular style.

The three-stage tower has a belfry with a corbelled parapet and four corner pinnacles added in 1786. The full-height stair turret contains a spiral stone staircase. The four-bay nave boasts tall aisles with 19th-century 2- and 3-light windows. An original 2-light window with Perpendicular tracery is located on the south aisle, to the west of the porch. The porch has a restored outer arch and features two medieval stone benches, an oak door set within a pointed roll-moulded arch of two orders. The door has a pair of possibly 13th-century iron C-hinges with elongated straps. Upper aisle windows display ogee heads reminiscent of the 18th century. The east return of the south aisle has a lancet with a vesica above, and similar upper aisle windows are found on the north wall. The north porch incorporates built-in grave slabs and a similar medieval door with hinges. The narrower two-bay chancel was heightened in 1864 and has a continuous chamfered sill band. The south wall of the chancel contains two lancets and a 19th-century priest’s door. The east end has three stepped lancets under individual hoodmoulds, with a restored vesica above. The single-storey north vestry has a lancet in its north wall and a diagonal buttress to the north-east. The two-storey gabled organ chamber has a truncated end chimney.

Inside, the nave features wide, double-chamfered pointed arches, supported by cylindrical piers with circular moulded bases and capitals; the south-western capital has nailhead ornamentation, while the north-western capital is octagonal. Semicircular responds are found at the east and west ends, with the former displaying early stiff-leaf ornament. The tower rests on rectangular piers with a similar transverse arch. A pointed chancel arch, raised approximately one metre in 1864, is supported by semi-octagonal mid-wall corbels with nailhead detailing. The nave has a 19th-century roof. The chancel’s east end showcases three lancets with splayed roll-moulded rear-arches, separated by detached shafts. A continuous roll-moulded band corresponds to the external sill band. A remnant of a piscina is visible behind the wainscoting in the south wall, and the chancel floor is laid with Minton encaustic tiles. The chancel roof is arch-braced.

Notable fittings include a circular 13th-century font with a Jacobean-style wooden cover, three medieval brasses in the chancel, and an elaborate wall monument dedicated to John Middleton (died 1709). This monument features a tablet within a segmental pedimented aedicule, with Corinthian columns, a cartouche, draped apron, a skull, and flanking putti. Two 10th to 11th century cross shafts are attached to the internal west wall.