Church Of St Wystan

The Church of St Wystan is a parish church rebuilt in 1877. It is constructed of irregular coursed sandstone with timber framing to the porch and bell tower, and has plain tile roofs with decorative ridge cresting. Coped gables feature gableted kneelers and cross finials. A chamfered plinth runs around the base.

The church comprises a nave, bell tower, south porch, chancel, north nave aisle, north chapel and north vestry. The south elevation features a gabled timber porch on a stone plinth, rebuilt in 1966, with a plain pointed arched doorway and plank door with wrought iron hinges. To the left is a two-light window with flat arch and panel tracery, and to the right, a similar single-light window and a two-light window. The chancel south side has four steps leading to a four-centred arched priests' doorway with a moulded surround, decorative cross above, and a round-arched single light window to the right. A three-light east window with panel tracery is present, with a pair of small ventilation lancets above. The north side of the chancel has a plain rectangular window. The gabled north vestry has a two-light trefoil headed window to the east and a four-centred arched doorway to the north, with a chimney stack rising from its gable. The gabled north chapel has a three-light window with panel tracery. The lean-to north aisle has two triplets of trefoil headed windows and a two-light window to the west with a triangular head. The west elevation of the nave has a two-light window with reticulation, flanked by heavy buttresses incorporating masonry from a previous church, and a triplet of small lancets above. A square bell tower rises from the nave roof, with tapering sides, a pyramid roof, shingled lower portion, and a timber-framed upper portion featuring four trefoil-headed louvred openings on each side.

Inside, a three-bay north arcade has octagonal piers and moulded arches. A moulded chancel arch has corbels with ball flower detailing. The nave roof is a panelled pointed tunnel vault of trefoil section, with castellated tie beams and wall plates. A canted panelled roof covers the chancel. An octagonal font has quatrefoils in the panels. The church has tiled floors and a sumptuous tiled sanctuary with a mosaic reredos, featuring a 15th-century Flemish Style painting, a copy of Rogier Van Der Weyden’s Deposition, set against a naturalistic landscape. Perpendicular Style parclose screens divide the north chapel. Furnishings including pews, a reading desk, pulpit, lectern and communion rails are all of circa 1877. Stained glass is in the 1866 east window by A Gibbs, the 1868 sanctuary north and south windows by Cox & Son, and the late 19th-century pale-coloured nave south windows. A brass memorial is on the chancel south wall to the Ninth Earl of Chesterfield (1866). An organ by Nicholson & Lord of Walsall is located at the west end.