Church Of St Michael

The Church of St Michael is a parish church with a Saxon foundation, largely rebuilt in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. It was restored in 1870 by F.R. Wilson and again in 1953. The church is constructed of roughly-dressed stone with stone slate roofs, with the south transept featuring a graduated Lakeland slate roof.

The church consists of a nave with a west bellcote, a south porch, north and south transepts, and a chancel. The west end has a round-headed window from the 12th century, flanked by two original buttresses on each side. The upper part of the gable was rebuilt, and the bellcote was added in 1870. All other windows are from 1870, in a Transitional style.

The nave is three bays. The south porch, likely from the 16th or early 17th century, has a round-headed doorway with continuous roll moulding and is tunnel-vaulted. Evidence of Saxon quoins are visible at the nave's north-east and south-east corners. The two-bay chancel has a priest's door with a four-centred arched head. The north side of the church is blank, with the blocked arches of a former three-bay north aisle embedded in the nave. Later, likely 16th century, blocked door and a blocked 18th-century round-headed window are also present. A blocked 16th-century window is within the chancel's north wall.

Inside, the round-headed south door has a continuous chamfer. The west window is shafted with a round-headed rere-arch; the shafts and rings are replacements, although the bases and one capital are original. The chancel arch is a depressed semicircular shape, featuring two chamfers rising from semicircular responds and simply moulded capitals. The arches into the transepts are slightly later. The north transept has a pointed 13th-century arch with two chamfers and octagonal responds. The south transept is rougher and simpler, but of a similar date.

Re-used old roof timbers form collar-beam trusses, with partial ceiling in the nave. A late 13th - early 14th century segmental-arched tomb recess is located in the chancel's south wall. A small, octagonal font dated 1664 is also present. Four medieval grave covers are set into the chancel floor. A memorial to George Alder, dated 1611, is embedded within the nave floor, featuring distinctive lettering and unusual spelling. Several 17th and 18th-century monuments are located in the south transept.