Church Of St Mary Magdalene

The Church of St Mary Magdalene is a parish church with significant medieval and 18th-century elements, extensively restored in the 1880s by Ordish. The tower was constructed in 1789. It is built of limestone ashlar, with the rest of the church primarily of random granite rubble with limestone dressings. The two-stage tower exhibits a mix of classical and Gothic detailing, featuring two-centred arched windows with wood Y-tracery to the ground floor and a similar window above, framed by a Gibbs surround. The upper stage has stepped pedestals, angle pilasters, a sill band, an oculus, and is topped by a small octagonal stump with oculi. The west facade includes an 18th-century wood-panelled door within an architrave with splayed voussoirs, a stressed keystone, an inscription plate, and a quatrefoil recess, all contained within an ogival arch set beneath a pediment. The inscription records the rebuilding of the steeple by the landowners in 1789. The west walls of the nave display medieval masonry overlaid with 18th-century ashlar work, featuring elegant niches. A short buttress at the angle is topped by a winged dragon gargoyle. The remainder of the walling is Victorian, exhibiting plinths, buttresses, and tracery in an Early Decorated style, with grouped lancets. A south door with continuous moulding is situated within a porch. The steeply pitched roof is covered with plain tiles. The east wall retains medieval fabric, including cobblestones and a dragon gargoyle, though the window and gable apex quatrefoil are later insertions. A blocked door is present on the north side, along with a solitary corbel featuring a carved beast’s head. The interior comprises a single space with an 18th-century square-headed doorway and a blocked window above the tower. The scissor-braced rafter roof is Victorian, as are the benches, pulpit, and font. A 15th-century wood chancel screen features square panels with foiled decoration and a central ogival arch with cusping. A 14th-century sedilia in the chancel has a cylindrical shaft and a trefoiled head, though the moulding is heavy and inaccurately set out. A piscina is present in a similar style. Stained glass in the chancel east window, dating from 1885, is in a painterly style; glass in the north aisle (1856-7) depicts the Resurrection and a Miracle story, executed in a more medieval style.