Church Of St Cuthbert

The Church of St. Cuthbert is a parish church with origins in the 12th century, significantly altered over the centuries. The nave dates to the mid-12th century, while the south chapel was added in the 14th century. The chancel was rebuilt in 1743 and again in the mid-19th century. A west tower was constructed in 1868, and the north aisle, vestries, and nave windows were added between 1911 and 1912. The church is largely constructed of squared stone, with the 19th-century parts in squared tooled stone, and the 1911-12 work in snecked stone. Dressings are cut stone. The 19th-century work is in a Romanesque style, while the 1911-12 additions adopt a free 14th-century style.

The south side of the nave features a plinth, eaves cornice, and three-light windows from 1912, with a round-arched light added in the 18th century to the far right. Above the 1912 windows and chapel roof are traces of four larger, similar openings. The chapel has a moulded plinth, a double-chamfered arch with a hoodmould framing a vertically-panelled door, a three-light window on the right, and a low-pitched coped gable with a finial cross. A circular clerestory with cusped mouchettes is present on the north side of the nave. The west tower has two tall stages with a stair turret on the southwest corner, a round-arched west window, two-light bell openings, and a battlemented parapet. The north aisle shows stepped buttress bay divisions, a hollow-chamfered north door, two-light windows on the north and east, and a four-light window on the west. A reset slab near the west window bears the inscription “WATSON’S WAKE 1669,” commemorating a fatal fall from the tower. The three-bay chancel displays a plinth and stepped buttresses, a priest’s door, two arched windows on the south, and a triplet of arches on the east, featuring carved capitals to the jamb shafts and billet hoodmoulds. A mural monument in the vestry commemorates Stephen, son of Henry Earl of Derby, dating to 1795.

Inside, the chancel arch sits on semicircular shafts with a carved impost band; the arch was taken down and reset in a four-centred form, possibly in the 15th century, with inner and outer orders of decorative voussoirs. A trefoil-headed squint is located on the north side of the arch, and a moulded ogee niche sits on the south. A five-bay chamfered arcade rises on octagonal piers. A pointed tower arch is also present within the church. The south chapel features a barrel vault and a recess on the west with a chamfered segmental arch; the doorway to the nave has a chamfered round arch and a taller roll-moulded rear arch. The nave’s ceiling is boarded and rests on tie-beam trusses with pierced panelling, springing alternately from wall-posts with pierced arch braces. The aisle has a scissor-brace roof. The chancel roof has round-arched stone trusses with chevron ornament.

Notable features include a carved 19th-century font, seven medieval cross slabs, and a Romanesque carving of two figures, which was removed from the south wall for conservation. A group of late Georgian marble tablets are located in the chancel. There is a Burdon memorial window at the west end of the aisle, depicting Christ in Majesty, saints, and patriarchal figures, and incorporating masonic symbols. A good War Memorial window is present in the south chapel, along with a St. Cuthbert window in the nave. A parish chest is situated in the aisle.