Church of St Mary the Virgin, including boundary wall and railings

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is an irregular cruciform church with a short nave, shallow transepts, and a large octagonal crossing tower. A vestry occupies the north-east corner, with an organ chamber and boiler room to the south-east. A mid-20th-century choir vestry is attached to the south side of the nave, and a late 20th-century church hall extends from the west end.

Exterior

The windows throughout contain diamond-patterned leaded glazing and some stained glass, most with plate tracery. All windows have quoined ashlar surrounds, with quoining also present at the building's corners. The nave and transepts are all the same height, each with a small section of half-timbering and louvred vents at the gable apexes. A red sandstone ashlar band runs around the church just below the sill level of the nave windows.

The west end features paired, trefoil-arched lancets forming the west window, now largely obscured by the attached late 20th-century church hall and walkway extension. The nave is lit by three tall windows on each north and south side, each comprising paired trefoil-arched lancets with a quatrefoil roundel above. A gabled north-west porch has a Gothic-arched doorway with recessed timber double doors beneath a solid tympanum inscribed 'PEACE BE WITHIN THY WALLS', incorporating a small glazed quatrefoil and a projecting lantern overhead. The single-storey, flat-roofed choir vestry of 1952 attached to the south side of the nave is constructed in the same materials as the main church and features a large nine-light mullioned window to the right of centre. This vestry was erected in memory of those from the parish killed during the Second World War.

Both transepts have windows on the west side matching those of the nave, whilst the main windows lighting the transepts' north and south walls respectively are taller versions of the nave windows. The north transept incorporates a small square bell cote rising from the north-east corner, with cusped belfry openings containing horizontal louvres, carved crocketed capitals to each corner, and a pyramidal roof. The large but squat octagonal crossing tower is lit by paired trefoil-arched lancet windows—those at the angled corners being taller—and has an eaves cornice, angle pinnacles and a pyramidal roof.

The chancel is lit at the eastern end on each north and south side by a cinquefoil-arched lancet rising above the roofline beneath a small gable; the north lancet has a small stone chimneystack to one side. Most of the chancel's north wall is concealed by a vestry with a lean-to roof incorporating a half-gablet to the east return. This vestry has a shouldered doorway at the centre of the north wall, flanked by two square-headed windows on each side. The chancel's south wall is largely concealed by a lower, lean-to organ chamber and boiler room projection, which incorporates a plain doorway and lancet window to the south side, and a small square-headed window to the east return. A brick chimneystack rises from the roof of the chancel on this side. The chancel's east wall incorporates an inscribed foundation stone set to the lower part of the wall, containing a roundel with a carved Alisee Patee cross. The east window above comprises five stepped lancets; the central three are not full-height as would be expected due to the presence of an inscribed consecration stone marking the location of the internal reredos.

The single-storey church hall of 1990 attached to the west end via an enclosed gallery corridor is constructed of reconstituted stone with a pitched, brown-tile roof and main entrance on the south side, and is not of special interest.

Interior

Internally, the church contains parquet floors to the nave, transepts and choir stalls, and an encaustic tiled floor to the rest of the chancel and altar. The walls are plastered, except in the chancel where they are of exposed ashlar, and in the crossing lantern, which is of exposed brick set upon an ashlar collar. The full-height arches beneath the crossing, leading into the chancel, nave and transepts, are all of red sandstone ashlar and incorporate simplified Early English capitals in yellow sandstone. A stringcourse runs around the nave and transepts beneath the windows, concealing a gas pipe.

The internal north-west entrance doors have been replaced with fully glazed versions installed in 2000 to celebrate the millennium. Also inserted at the western end of the nave are built-in cupboards and a partially-glazed, narthex-style screen installed circa 1998. The nave is lit by three windows to each north and south wall: one of the south wall windows depicts the Parable of the Talents (1921), whilst another depicts Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd (1934). The north wall contains a window depicting Christ healing followers, and the west window (1926) depicts scenes of Christ's ministry.

The nave roof is formed by a series of arch-braced roof trusses—the top parts of which are concealed by the ceiling—supported on sandstone corbels and forming shallow trefoil-arched shapes. The chancel and transepts contain similarly styled trusses, each with the addition of two further shallow cusps. All incorporate visible rafters and side purlins, and applied timbers to the ceiling.

A four-panel door in the east wall of the north transept leads into a cupboard accessing the bell cote: although the bell ropes are no longer present, the 1899 tubular bells by Harrington of Coventry remain in situ. An adjacent four-panel door leads into two small rooms forming the vestry, which contain some later built-in cupboards and a partly-glazed, panelled screen containing a door leading into the chancel. A door in the west wall of the south transept leads into the choir vestry, which contains a timber plaque commemorating its construction and the names of those from the parish lost during the Second World War.

Flanking the chancel arch on the north side is a stone pulpit with carved foliate decoration and pierced quatrefoil roundels that was brought in from another church, whilst flanking the arch on the south side is a free-standing eagle lectern. The chancel steps are of marble, along with the altar platform. Plain choir stalls lie to the north and south sides of the chancel, along with an organ to the south side. The organ dates to 1895 and is by the company of Wadsworth & Brother, Manchester, constructed at a price of £271. It was electrified in 1939 and restored in 1966 and 2007. Further pipes are located in the east wall of the south transept. The church's original stone font has been removed and replaced by a simple, slender hexagonal timber font containing a copper bowl, located in the chancel. In front of the altar are timber altar rails formed of cusped ogee arches with carved spandrels and supporting columns with foliated capitals. The altar is a simple wooden trestle-table, and set behind is a tall wooden, canopied reredos with carved figures and gilded lettering reading ':holy: :holy: :holy: :till: :he: :come:' from Corinthians. Five stained-glass lancets by Bennett of Old Trafford form the east window (1901); those to the centre are set higher and stepped above the reredos. The lancets depict Jesus Christ as the light of the world, along with St Mary, Archangel Gabriel, the Sower and the Reaper.

Churchyard Boundary

The churchyard is enclosed on the north side by a wall constructed of the same materials as the church, with rock-faced sandstone 'bricks' and triangular red-sandstone ashlar copings. The wall incorporates gate piers and end piers, all of red-sandstone ashlar with pyramidal caps, and two sets of wrought-iron gates. The eastern side of the churchyard is enclosed by wrought-iron railings. The two remaining sides of the churchyard are enclosed by modern walls and fencing, which are not of special interest.