Church Of St Thomas Of Canterbury

Parish church of St Thomas of Canterbury, dating from the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. The north aisle was rebuilt around 1820. The church was restored and the chancel rebuilt by H. I. Stevens in 1848.

The building is constructed of coursed and squared ironstone rubble with ashlar dressings, and has a lead and slate gabled roof. Features include chamfered plinths, moulded string course, coved eaves, and coped gables.

The west tower contains a spire and rises in three stages. The first stage has two 19th-century diagonal buttresses and an ogee doorway, above which is an ogee double lancet. Single square lights face south and west, while a 12th-century round-headed window faces north. The second stage contains a clock to the west. The third stage has four late 14th-century cusped double lancet bell openings with hood moulds. The setback octagonal spire has two tiers of lucarnes (the lower tier with double lancets), a finial and weathercock above.

The nave features a clerestory of three bays with moulded parapet. The north side has three restored triple plain lancets with flat heads and hood moulds; the south side has three similar lancets, the easternmost covered by the transept roof.

The north aisle and chapel spans four bays, with single diagonal and four intermediate buttresses. The west end has a 19th-century chamfered light. The north side has a 15th-century double lancet with panel tracery and flat head to the east, two 14th-century decorated triple lancets to the west, a blocked 14th-century doorway, and a 19th-century Decorated double lancet. The east end has a late 15th-century triple lancet with panel tracery and round head. All openings have hood moulds and stops.

The chancel comprises two bays with chamfered plinth and sill band. The east end has two diagonal gabled buttresses and a 19th-century graduated triple lancet. The south side has a shouldered doorway to the west and a double lancet to the east, both with hood moulds.

The south aisle spans two bays with a diagonal buttress to the west. The west end has a restored early 14th-century triple lancet with intersecting tracery. The south side has a late 15th-century depressed ogee double lancet with flat head to the west and a 19th-century moulded pointed doorway to the east. Openings have hood moulds with mask stops.

The south transept and aisle have two buttresses to the south and a diagonal buttress to the east. The aisle's south end has a restored 14th-century Decorated triple lancet. The transept's south gable has a restored 14th-century four-light lancet with flamboyant tracery. The transept's east side has a 14th-century ogee triple lancet with flat head. Openings have moulds, mainly with mask stops.

The restored tower arch is 14th-century with double chamfered and rebated moulding, octagonal responds, hood mould and a 20th-century panelled glazed screen. The tower chamber has blocked 12th-century round-headed windows to north and south.

Interior arcades: The north arcade is mid-14th-century with three bays, octagonal piers and responds, double chamfered and rebated arches, and hood moulds with beast and mask stops. The south arcade is similarly designed, restored, with moulded abaci. A low pitched 19th-century roof with arch braces, bosses and corbels covers the nave. The north aisle north side contains stained glass windows from 1896 and 1927. The east end has a chamfered archway into the chapel. The roof, restored around 1820, features arched tie beams and corbels. The chapel's east window is flanked by single 14th-century ogee crocketed niches and has a restored 15th-century roof with arched tie beams and bosses.

The chancel has a 14th-century double chamfered and rebated arch with imposts, hood mould and mask stops. The north aisle has a similar archway with mask corbels to the west and an aumbry to its right. The east window contains 19th-century patterned stained glass. A 19th-century scissor-braced common rafter roof covers the chancel. The south aisle has a plain lean-to roof and a south-west window with stained glass from 1970.

The south transept has a two-bay arcade with cruciform pier featuring four filleted shafts, corbel impost to the west and keeled respond to the east. The arches are double chamfered and rebated. The east window contains stained glass by Clayton & Bell from 1879. A 19th-century common rafter roof covers the south transept. The aisle's south window has late 19th-century stained glass beneath a moulded 19th-century lean-to roof.

Fittings include mid-19th-century items: an octagonal font, brass lectern, traceried benches, and stalls with poppyheads and figure carvings. Two early 19th-century benefaction boards are present. A 17th-century chest and carved box with turned legs survive. A mid-20th-century octagonal oak linenfold pulpit and Perpendicular style traceried oak screen are also present. A fragment of roof lead is dated 1733.

Monuments include a semi-circular marble tablet to Nicholas Sharpe (1614), a marble and slate obelisk tablet (1840), and bronze war memorial tablets from around 1919 and 1945.