Church of St Paul

Church of St Paul

This is a timber-framed church aligned north-south, comprising a nave and chancel under a single roof with a bellcote at the south end, a south gable porch, and a vestry at the north-east corner with paired double-pitched roofs, which was doubled in size in 1912. An organ chamber and boiler house in brick were added to the north-west corner in 1893. The exterior walls and roof are constructed of corrugated iron, with wooden windows and interior boarding throughout.

The church and vestry gables are decorated with wooden bargeboards. The square bellcote features lattice sides and a square needle spire topped with a stainless steel cross. A ventilator at the centre of the ridge has lost its original cap and is now disused. The windows are pointed-arch lancets with wooden trefoil-headed frames, except for a large pointed-arch north window with intersecting bar tracery and a circular window over the south porch. The projecting porch is flanked by lancet windows on each side, has a double-pitched roof, and a pointed-arch doorway with a plank door featuring decorative ironwork hinges. The east elevation has three lancet windows and the vestry at the right-hand end. The vestry's south side wall contains a pointed-arch doorway with a battened plank door fitted with a thumb-catch, and its east gable walls have two lancets each. The west elevation features the projecting boiler house at the left-hand end, roofed at right-angles to the church with a brick gable stack and central segmental arched window, presently boarded, and a flat-headed doorway with a plank door in its south side wall. The church itself has a single lancet window on this side, with the right-hand end covered by a modern single-storey flat-roofed extension.

The interior has pine board cladding to walls and ceilings, with three roof trusses with collars and metal ties; the south truss also has a tie beam. The windows contain diamond leaded clear glass with a border of red glass, whilst the circular window is glazed with modern stained glass. The chancel is separated by an open timber screen with cusped arcading supporting a rood beam inscribed with the carved and painted words "SANCTUS SANCTUS SANCTUS". It retains original pine oak stalls and pierced bench fronts, a timber reredos of five carved panels, and a timber altar with three pointed arches with cusped heads. An organ with a carved timber case stands on the west side, and a doorway to the vestry is located on the east side. The vestry is clad in pine throughout. The nave contains a Gothic wooden pulpit with turned balusters and a brass memorial plaque commemorating local fallen of the First and Second World Wars; the original pews have been replaced by modern chairs. Two doorways towards the south end of the west side wall provide access to the modern extension. The modern extension built against the south-west corner of the church is not of special architectural interest.