Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a church dating from 1770, with a chancel added in 1896. It is constructed of hammer-dressed stone with a stone slate roof. The church consists of a west tower, a nave, a south porch, and a chancel. The tower may incorporate earlier masonry to its base, rising in three plain stages defined by a string course. The first stage has a pointed arched window with Gothic glazing and a sash. A hoodmould is present with carved head terminations. The second stage features a small arched light on each face, and the third stage has a semi-circular arched belfry window with collonnettes set within a recess. The top stage is embattled and features a clock face, surmounted by a weather vane.

The five-bay nave has two tiers of windows arranged in a symmetrical pattern: A, B, C, C, B, A. The outer bays have Venetian windows with raised imposts and keystones. The two central bays contain tall, semi-circular arched windows with imposts and keystones, flanked by doorways with rusticated surrounds and false voussoirs and a cornice. The left door is covered by a gabled porch with a semi-circular arched doorway and impost and keystone, dating from the late 19th century; the right door has been blocked to form a window. Above the doorways is a semi-circular arched window with impost, keystone, and stepped glazing. Quoins and a cornice are also present. The north side of the nave has five bays of three-light, double-chamfered mullioned windows.

The Gothic Revival chancel has a gabled transeptal chapel with a circular window containing tracery. Diagonal buttresses are present on the east gable, alongside a tall east window with a pointed arch and panel tracery.

The interior features a barn-like nave with a king-post roof and roughly overlapping purlins. A west gallery includes panelled pews and a fine oak balustrade, supported on two stone columns. The chancel appears loosely attached. An organ recess is also present, as is a two-bay hammer-beam roof. A screen, a War Memorial in a free Gothic style, divides the spaces. The east window, depicting the Crucifixion, is a memorial to John Fielden of Dobroyd and is by Kempe. A bell from 1603 and a clock, installed in the tower in 1860, are also notable features.

Originally a chapel-of-ease to St. Chad’s Church in Rochdale, the church was built on land given by the Radcliffe family around 1476, associated with nearby Todmorden Hall.