Church of St Mary

Church of St Mary

This parish church at Denby was built in multiple phases spanning the early 13th century through the late 15th century, with substantial alterations in 1838 and restoration work carried out in 1901-3 by J Oldrid Scott. The building is constructed of brown rubble sandstone and grey ashlar sandstone with sandstone dressings, and features leaded and plain-tile roofs with embattled parapets topped by ridgeback copings on the nave and aisles. A moulded coping adorns the plinth, while a coved eaves band runs along the nave and nave aisles.

The church comprises a three-stage western tower with a recessed broached spire, a clerestoried nave with a south aisle and two-storey north aisle, a chancel, and a south porch.

The three-stage 14th-century ashlar west tower has full-height stepped angle buttresses at all four corners and reduces slightly at each stage, marked by chamfered string courses. The west elevation contains a pointed two-light window with 19th-century reticulated tracery and an original hoodmould. Above this, the second stage has a blocked, elaborately moulded ogee-headed opening with carved head label stops and a foliage finial on the hoodmould. Trefoil-headed lancets with hoodmoulds appear on the north and south elevations. The third stage features two-light pointed louvred bell openings with reticulated tracery and hoodmoulds on all sides. Projecting parapets above display a frieze of blind cusping and small gargoyles at the corners, with a domed cupola rising from the north-west corner to crown the internal staircase. The octagonal spire above bears gableted lucarnes with trefoil-headed lancets on four sides near its base and top.

The north nave aisle has rubble stonework to its base and ashlar above. Diagonal buttresses flank its ends, with two further buttresses positioned at the sides of windows. The ground floor includes one probably 19th-century window in 17th-century style with two recessed mullions, and two early 15th-century flat-headed two-light windows with cusped lights, pierced spandrels, and returned hoodmoulds. Above these are three two-light windows with four-centred arched lights, dating to 1838 as copies of the south clerestory windows. The eastern window of the aisle is 14th-century, consisting of two lights with reticulated tracery and a hoodmould. A similar but taller window stands to the east in the chancel, beyond which is a blocked pointed doorcase.

The east chancel elevation has diagonal buttresses on either side of a central four-light pointed window containing 1901 flowing tracery, with a chamfered sill band below. The south chancel elevation holds two 14th-century windows with a central stepped buttress between them; the western window is elongated, and the tracery in both windows likely dates to 1901. A small pointed doorcase sits adjacent to the buttress. The south nave aisle features a flat-headed two-light 15th-century window with cusped lights, pierced spandrels, and a returned hoodmould to the east, plus two similar windows on the south elevation to the east of the porch, with a circa 1901 copy beyond the porch to the west.

The south porch, probably added in the late 15th century, has a lapped stone roof over a pointed vault with a stone-coped gable topped with a stone cross. Central stepped buttresses flank each side, with tiny two-light mullion windows to the north. The front elevation displays a double-chamfered arched door. The inner door, misaligned with the porch, has a single-chamfered arch. Above, the clerestory contains three late 15th-century three-light windows with four-centred arched lights and incised spandrels.

Interior

The church interior features a two-bay south arcade with early 13th-century double-chamfered semicircular-headed arches and semicircular responds topped with moulded capitals and bases. The north aisle contains a panelled wooden gallery on cast-iron columns with a splat-baluster staircase to the north-west corner, added in 1838. The tower arch is tall with double chamfering, while the chancel arch is similar but wider, with an inner arch resting on polygonal responds bearing moulded capitals. A well-restored late 15th-century nave roof features central painted bosses to the cambered ties. The chancel roof holds a 19th-century pointed timber vault with ribs. Within the chancel stands a fine 14th-century double sedilla with moulded ogee arches topped by flame finials, accompanied by an attached piscina in similar style to the east side. The north nave aisle contains a small trefoil-headed piscina at its east end. The choir stalls and reredos are 19th-century, as are the nave pews and pulpit, which appear contemporary with the restoration work.

The north side of the chancel displays an impressive early 17th-century alabaster monument to Patrick Lowe, who died in 1616. It features cartouches between decorated panels at its base, a central fluted column above, flanked by elaborately decorated columns with bulbous bases, and an ornate cornice topped at the corners by steeple finials. A large central achievement in a strapwork surround crowns the top. Below, in two niches, are outward-facing kneeling figures of Patrick Lowe and his wife, with relief figures of their children behind them. Substantial paint remains visible. Several other Lowe memorials, mostly in black slate with white marble, appear throughout the chancel, including examples from circa 1785, circa 1827, and circa 1887. A similar memorial to Mary Holden, dated circa 1844, sits in the chancel, with several other similar late 19th-century memorials in the nave aisles.

The font in the south aisle dates to the 15th century and appears to incorporate part of a reused pier. The church contains various stained glass windows of different periods. The principal east window dates to circa 1889 and is by Warrington and Company. The eastern window on the south side of the chancel is by Florence Camm of Smethwick, dated 1942, while the western windows on both sides of the chancel are late 19th-century. The north aisle has an east window by Christopher Webb, dated 1961, with side windows from circa 1900 and circa 1922. The south aisle contains two late 19th-century stained glass windows and one of 1950 signed GW. Medieval glass fragments have been collected in one of the north gallery windows. A lead plaque inscribed "RE PE CW 1719" appears on the south wall of the tower.