Cathedral Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin is a cathedral church, originally a parish church, dating from 1820 to 1860, designed by John Palmer of Manchester. It was damaged by fire in 1831 and restored by Thomas Stones, clerk of works, in consultation with Thomas Rickman. Significant eastward extensions were added in 1926 by W.A. Forsythe, and a central corona was constructed in 1961 by Lawrence King. The building is largely of ashlar construction with snecked rubble in the 20th century, and has slate roofs.

The west tower, advanced in its archaeological consideration for the time, rises in three stages. The lower stage contains a doorway under a flat gabled portal and a two-light window, with paired windows above divided by clocks. Belfry openings are paired and hooded, and angle buttresses have gabled finials and polygonal pinnacles. A pierced parapet tops the tower. The aisles and nave are battlemented; the aisles have tall three-light windows with transoms (originally to conceal galleries) and buttresses between, while the nave has paired windows. The 1926 extension is in a simpler Decorated style, with a corona featuring seven-light square-headed windows on each of eight facets, divided by mullions that extend above the parapet. Taller angle pinnacles and a tall spire complete the structure.

The interior nave has six bays, with the eastern bays altered due to the church's extension. It features cylindrical piers with attached shafts directed to the cardinal points, deeply moulded arches with continuous hood moulds, a continuous formal foliage frieze below the clerestory windows, and a ribbed tierceron star vault with longitudinal ribs. The aisles have flat ribbed ceilings. The arrangement of the west doorway is tripartite, flanked by ogee-headed recesses. Fittings include four 14th-century seats with misericords. Stained glass includes work by Morris & Co in the northeast window, and a mid-19th century Flemish window in the north transept, originally from the church’s eastern window. Palmer's design represents an early, archaeologically informed Gothic Revival example, reflected in the building’s starred listing status.