Church Of St Thomas

The Church of St Thomas is a parish church built between 1892 and 1893, with a tower added in 1901, by Stockdale Harrison. It is constructed of brick with a wide sweeping Westmorland slate roof. The west tower is offset to the south and features clasping buttresses marked by stone gablets, angled to form the corners of the embattled parapet; a central angled articulation is also present on the parapet. A canted stair turret projects from the north wall, topped with a stone capping roof above a thin band of windows. The upper stage of the tower has paired single lancet windows with applied foiled tracery and louvres, with a stone band articulating this stage. A lead fleche caps the tower. The west wall is articulated by decorative brick bands and features five stepped lancet windows with relieving arches and clasping buttresses. Below these is a small lean-to with three arched lights. A wooden bell canopy is corbelled out at the gable apex. An entrance is located in the south face of the tower, where the arch moulding blends into the clasping buttresses. The nave is of seven wide bays, precisely articulated by buttresses between paired lancet windows. A three-bay chancel has high lancet windows.

Inside, the open, single-volume space is striking. The walls are articulated by buttresses, and the windows are placed high above a yellow brick sill band. Roof trusses spring from corbels on the buttresses, with curved braces supporting a flat tie beam and purlins creating square panelled decoration above the ceiling. The chancel arch is flanked by buttresses and lesser arches, one of which is blind, featuring minimal capitals and no moulding. The church contains square, Jacobean style pulpit and chancel fittings. Chancel windows are set within deeper embrasures. A reredos dating from 1913 has simplified panels with a small carved frieze in each bay. Stained glass from 1919 is present in the east window, reflecting a pictorial style. A series of windows from 1922, executed in a painterly Renaissance style, are set in the south wall. A painted triptych depicting Mary and Child with two Angels is located on the west wall.