Church Of St Mary Magdalene

The Church of St Mary Magdalene is a church built between 1894 and 1898, designed by Austin and Paley. It is constructed of red sandstone ashlar with a plain tile roof. The building comprises a western tower, an aisled nave and chancel, a north-eastern organ chamber, and a vestry.

The tower was originally intended to be taller with a steeple and has diagonal buttresses. Its west face features a central window with four lights, cusped tracery, and a double casement-moulded surround and hood mould. A semi-octagonal stair turret projects on the south face. The south aisle has a projecting porch with diagonal buttresses and a four-centred arch, ornamented with superimposed rosettes over the arch mouldings. A niche above the doorway contains a statue of the patron saint. To the right of the porch are five aisle windows, with one of two lights and four of three lights, all with Decorated tracery. The clerestory has five two-light windows with flat heads. The north side is similar, with a lower projecting porch and five three-light windows to the aisles. The chancel’s south side has three two-light windows with flat heads and hood moulds, separated by buttresses with offsets. The north side incorporates a vestry and organ chamber, each with a hipped and gabled roof respectively. The east end has a six-light window with cinquefoil heads and quatrefoils at the apex.

Inside, the tower has a double-chamfered arch. The thick side walls of the tower feature panelled, pointed arched passages. The aisle arcades, consisting of five bays, have elliptical piers with four fillets, and the arch mouldings die into the piers. The chancel arch has similarly shaped responds. The aisle and clerestory windows have chamfered surrounds. The nave roof features a wooden barrel vault with arched braces, supported on ashlar corbels; there are tie beams and king posts from which curved struts are sprung. The chancel has a two-bay arcade leading to the vestry and organ chamber, with a central pier similar to those in the nave arcades. The southern and eastern window reveals have colonettes to either side. A piscina and sedilia are located on the lower southern wall. A late Gothic revival reredos and chancel screen, added in 1926, display high-quality carving. A square font stands beneath the tower, with chamfered corners.