Church of St Thomas and Lychgate

Church of St Thomas and Lychgate

This is a Grade II listed church built in Norman style, constructed from rock-faced sandstone with ashlar dressings and covered with slate roofs featuring bands of fish-scale slates. The tower is roofed in stone slate.

The church comprises a six-bay nave with a semi-circular east apse, a south porch with an adjoining square tower, a north aisle, a north-east vestry, and a large modern vestry attached to the north side. The building sits on a plinth with a corbel table, and features a moulded sill band to the west gable walls of the nave and north aisle, and to the east apse. The nave is strengthened by clasping buttresses.

The west elevation displays a rose window above a central buttress, flanked on each side by tall round-headed windows with projecting moulded lintel bands. An adjacent smaller rose window to the north aisle sits above two round-headed windows with hood moulds. The south elevation is punctuated by single and paired round-headed windows with hood moulds. The porch to the third bay features a round-headed doorway in the gable wall, accessed by external steps, with a chamfered surround, engaged columns bearing Romanesque scallop capitals, and a hood mould. A small round-headed lancet sits above, with two round-headed windows to the right side elevation.

The tower has quoining and ashlar bands with a tall spire topped by a metal weather vane. Round-headed lancets with black circular clock faces are positioned on the front and side elevations just below the belfry stage. The belfry stage itself contains round-headed louvred windows with column mullions, and gargoyles stand at each corner of the tower apex. The semi-circular apse displays pilaster strips forming three panels, each containing a round-headed window with engaged jamb columns and hood mould. The vestry and north aisle are largely obscured by a modern flat-roofed building of no special interest.

The interior of the nave features hammer-beam trusses with collars, single side purlins, and secondary trusses. The aisle has collar trusses. The arcade between the nave and aisle comprises three wide slightly pointed arches and a narrow pointed arch at the east end, with capitals displaying variants of Romanesque scallops and Transitional water-leaf ornament; the easternmost capital incorporates the attributes of the Evangelists. The moulded round apsidal arch has engaged columns to each side, with Romanesque scalloped capitals richly painted in jewel-like colours with intricate geometric and foliate detailing. The apse walls, ceiling, and window reveals are similarly painted, also featuring Celtic knot motifs. Between the windows are tin panels attached to the walls painted with Bible passages and the Creed. The windows contain richly coloured stained glass by Wailes and Co, denoting the Sacrament of Eucharist, Symbols of the Passion, and Symbols of the Trinity. The nave and aisle windows contain stained and painted geometric and foliate glass by Lavers and Barraud. Painted tin panels attached to sills are now painted white. On the east side stands a pulpit of 1938 in Austrian oak. The organ is situated at the east end of the north aisle with timber Gothic casing and decoratively painted pipes. A small hexagonal stone font at the west end stands on a floor of encaustic tiles. The tower retains a carillon of six hemispherical bells made by Messrs Mears & Co of London.

The church is accompanied by a timber lychgate with pierced double gates. The pitched roof features bands of rectangular and fish-scale slates with decorative ridge tiles.