Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church largely dating from the mid-13th century, with significant remodelling in the mid-14th century and a late 19th-century restoration. It is constructed of rubble with reused squared blocks in the west end and lower courses, featuring cut dressings. The low-pitched 20th-century roof is largely hidden, though graduated stone slates cover the porch and vestry. The church has a four-bay, aisless nave, with a south porch and a three-bay chancel; the chancel’s axis is deflected to the south.

The nave has a chamfered plinth, except at the west end, and large stepped buttresses, with the west end buttresses diagonally set. A west window features three lancet lights with pierced spandrels, set under a hoodmould with animal-head stops; above is a gabled bellcote with twin arches. The 14th-century south porch has a chamfered plinth and a double-chamfered arch on semi-octagonal responds with moulded imposts and a hoodmould. The parapet has a central gable with a restored sundial, and a small chamfered window is in the west wall. Inside the porch are restored stone benches and an old studded south door in a double-chamfered arch. To the west of the porch is a window of three lancet lights under a hollow-chamfered arch, and to the east are two 14th-century three-light windows with flowing tracery and moulded hoods. Built into the wall between these windows are two stone shields from a late medieval altar tomb and a fine late-13th-century cross slab. A 19th-century studded door in an old moulded arch is on the north wall of the nave, and at the east end is a restored 13th-century window of two lancet lights with a vesica.

The chancel has a lower chamfered plinth and stepped buttresses at the angles. A 19th-century studded door, in an old chamfered arch, provides access from the south, alongside three 14th-century three-light windows matching those in the nave. The five-light east window is a late 19th-century replacement using some medieval pieces. A 13th-century two-light window, similar to that on the north side of the nave, is also present, but it remains unrestored. The vestry has a flat-faced two-light mullioned window dating from around 1700, set within an architrave. Parapets were heightened by approximately one meter in the late 19th century.

The chancel interior is colour-washed. A double-chamfered chancel arch, with a hoodmould, leads into the nave, supported on moulded imposts. A shouldered doorway leads to the vestry. A small piscina, with a broken bowl, is situated in the chancel, adjacent to a sedile formed by a lowered windowsill; a similar piscine is in the nave. A medieval stone altar slab is also present. Significant 13th and 14th-century stained glass remains, including 13th-century grisaille glass with heraldry in the north windows and 14th-century depictions of the Holy Trinity, Majesty, the Virgin and Child (twice), St. James the Great, St. Bartholomew, and angel musicians, in the south windows. At the west end of the nave are several Pre-Conquest cross fragments and an Anglo-Scandinavian hogback, along with medieval cross slabs and a low-relief half-effigy. A carved slab is incised on the chancel floor, commemorating John Forster, rector, around 1456, and there are three brasses from the 15th and 16th centuries, associated with the Wycliffe family. A bequest board dated 1870 notes an 18th-century benefactor, while repainted 18th-century Royal Arms and Pater and text boards are also present. Three 18th-century brass chandeliers are within the church, alongside a 1898 carved font. Modern fittings are by Thompson of Kilburn, and the 1963 coffered ceilings are the work of William Whitfield. Two bells, dated 1607, are not currently visible.