Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Grade II* listed church located in Saighton, with origins dating back to the late 11th or early 12th century. It features a chancel arch from this period and likely has masonry from the nave and chancel from the same time. The church includes 14th and 15th-century windows, a late 15th-century south chapel, and a belfry, south porch, and vestry that were restored in 1896 by W M Boden, funded by the 1st Duke of Westminster.

The building is constructed from squared, roughly coursed red sandstone in large blocks and has a slate roof. It features an oak-framed, louvred west belfry on the ridge topped with a low, square shingled spire. The church has an aisleless nave and chancel, with a four-centred archway leading from the nave to the chapel. The chancel arch has two outer shafts linked by four single beakheads, indicating Norse influence, while the south capital displays crudely carved foliage and faces; the north respond was renewed in 1896.

The porch arch, likely rebuilt in the 14th century, has four carved voussoirs with motifs that appear to be derived from Norse sun symbols and Romanesque palmettes. The font is a stone baluster with a hollowed trough, probably from the 17th century. Inside the south chapel, there are two marble monuments: one to Sir Robert Cunliffe from 1778, created by Joseph Nollekens, featuring a seated putto holding a portrait medallion against a dark grey obelisk, and another to Sir Ellis Cunliffe from 1769, which matches the first but has a standing putto. The church also contains good stained glass from 1897 in the Arts and Crafts style, located in a plain inserted three-light north window in the nave.