Church Of St Anne

Church of St Anne

This parish church combines medieval and later work, featuring parts dating from the medieval period, late 15th or early 16th century construction, repairs or re-roofing in 1639, and early to mid-18th century additions. It was restored in 1900. The building is constructed of sandstone and gritstone with a roof of slate and stone slate.

The church's plan is unusual: a nave with north and south aisles arranged in a parallelogram beneath three parallel roofs of approximately equal height, accompanied by a west tower (18th century) and north-east vestry (20th century). This distinctive configuration appears to result from successive additions to the church's south side dating from around 1300. A south aisle was added in the late 15th or early 16th century, which subsequently became the nave when another aisle was built to its south shortly afterwards. During the 18th century, these additions were altered externally, and the tower was constructed.

The south aisle is built of gritstone ashlar with sandstone dressings. It comprises 6 bays in classical style with clasping pilasters, sillband, entablature and moulded cornice, and an embattled parapet derived from an earlier wall. The first and fifth bays contain round-headed doorways with moulded imposts, blocked keystones, and straight moulded cornices on blocked consoles. The remaining bays have four round-headed two-light windows with Y-tracery, plain jambs and heads, and blocked imposts and keystones. A large incised sundial is positioned between the first and second windows, with lettering on the frieze above reading "SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI". The east end of this aisle features a similar window, while the west end has a louvred two-light opening in corresponding style.

The north aisle, the earliest part of the building, is constructed of intermixed red and yellow sandstone blocks. A doorway at the west end, dating to around 1400, has a pointed arched sunk-chamfered surround decorated with paterae (flowers, fish, cross, and letter M). An early 14th-century window contains two trefoiled lights with a rounded trefoil in the head. Further east is a chamfered rectangular window of two round-headed lights with hollow spandrels. The outline of lower gables at both ends indicates that the roof has been raised or rebuilt. The east gable contains a low four-centred-arched three-light window with a hoodmould, while the west gable has a modern four-light rectangular window in Gothic style.

The nave has a modern four-light east window with Perpendicular tracery.

The tower is set towards the north side of the west gable of the nave and rises only to that height. It is square in plan, partly embraced by the gable wall, and features a round-headed window with Gibbs surround. A square former clock face appears at the top of the south side. The tower is topped with a moulded cornice and bears an octagonal lantern with an open arch in each face, surmounted by a small stone dome with a weathervane.

Interior

The north arcade comprises 5 wide two-centred arches chamfered in two orders on octagonal piers with moulded caps and bases. The second arch from the west end retains remains of black and white chevron painting, whilst the third displays red and white bands. The south arcade is slightly different and less regular, with higher piers and deeper caps.

The north aisle has a 17th-century collar truss roof with ovolo-moulded tie-beams; one tie-beam at the east end is inscribed "1639". The same aisle contains a large carved wall monument to Henry Foster, who died in 1831. Foster was a navigator and astronomer who drowned in Mexico. Fragments of 12th-century masonry are displayed in a former window now in the vestry. Parts of 18th-century box pews have been re-used as dado; some are dated.