Hearse House In Churchyard Of Church Of St Mary

The hearse house, dating from the 17th century, is located in the north-east corner of the churchyard of St Mary's Church. It is constructed of brick with ashlar dressings and features a slate roof. The exterior includes slender, nearly full-height gabled piers on the south and east elevations, along with gabled kneelers on the eastern gable end. The pitched roof of the rear half of the building has been replaced with a flat roof. The east gable end has an off-centre doorway with a shallow-arched head and an ashlar lintel, leading to a panelled door that has a modern metal covering. An identical doorway and door on the west end have been sealed off but are visible from the inside. A later narrow doorway has been inserted into the south elevation of the rear section. There is a mid to late 20th-century single-storey, flat-roofed toilet block extension attached to the west end of the hearse house, which has doorways and small windows on the south and west elevations, but this extension is not of special interest.

Inside, the hearse house is now used as a store and is divided into two sections, front and rear, both featuring whitewashed walls and stone sett floors. The front section contains an original timber ledger cupboard fixed to one wall, an enclosed brick corner stove, and a chimney breast. A stone crest from 1668, belonging to Edward Kenyon, is built into the north wall and originated from his monument in St Mary's Church. The interior also includes an incised, late medieval stone tomb slab depicting a floriated cross and shears, along with wall-mounted hooks in the rear section.