Church Of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This church dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, with alterations made in the 18th century, restoration in the 19th century, and repairs around 1966. It is built of squared red sandstone with stone slate roofs and comprises a nave with a south aisle under the same roof, a west tower, and a chancel with a south chapel under the same roof.

The tower is a square structure of three stages, mostly from the 14th century but with a 15th-century bell-stage and an 18th-century parapet. It has diagonal west buttresses that rise to the second stage, which terminates in a chamfered coping. The bell-stage is set back and finished with an ashlar parapet. Where a west door would normally be, there is now a modern window of two cusped lights. The second stage displays a clock-face and on the south side a small segmental-arched window to the ringing chamber. The belfry has louvred windows of two cusped lights with multifoil heads in moulded surrounds and hoodmoulds. The straight parapet has panelled corner posts bearing carved scallops, each with a small weather vane.

The buttressed three-bay south aisle and two-bay chapel share a continuous wall with a dripcourse and embattled parapet. A sundial is mounted on a raised cop in the centre of the parapet, which steps up at the west end in line with the porch. The low gabled porch has gable coping with kneelers. Its outer entrance is a wide four-centre arched opening, chamfered in two orders with moulded imposts and remains of a small niche above. Inside are low stone side benches and a two-centre arched inner door with three orders of hollow chamfer. The aisle windows (two) and chapel windows (two) are all double-chamfered with four-centre arched heads, each featuring three arched lights with chamfered mullions, probably from the late 15th century. In the centre of the chapel wall is a two-centre arched priest's doorway with two orders of moulding, probably from the 14th century and re-set.

The east gable contains large 19th-century windows: five trefoiled lights to the chancel and three lights with elaborate plate-traceried head to the chapel, both with hoodmoulds. Visible in the east gable of the nave, above the chancel roof, are two gable lines at different pitches, one inside the other. The north wall of the nave has its upper level rebuilt in larger and less regular masonry. It features two small buttresses, a doorway to the west bay matching the inner door of the porch, and three two-light windows with imposts and arched plate-traceried heads, which represent an 1868 remodelling of Georgian windows dating from around 1720-35.

Internally, both the tower arch and chancel arch date probably to the early 14th century and are continuously chamfered in two orders. The chancel arch has some blocked mortices at the springing, indicating the former position of a rood screen. The four-bay aisle arcade and two-bay chapel arcade are both late Perpendicular in style, featuring octagonal columns with moulded caps and two-centre arches chamfered in two orders. A carved head appears above the first aisle arch. There is a simple round-arched piscina in the chancel and another in the chapel. Between the chancel and chapel stands a late 15th-century carved stone tomb-chest with a small brass of a priest. Various 18th-century wall monuments are present, notably that of Rev. John Douglas (died 1766) and a cast bronze monument to Rigbye do Harrock (1716) featuring crested arms at the top and skull and crossbones at the bottom. A 15th-century octagonal stone font with carved panels includes emblems of the Stanley family.