Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary

This is a parish church of Early 12th-century origin, with significant additions and alterations spanning the 14th and 15th centuries, followed by heavy restoration in 1826 and the late 19th century. The building is constructed of green sandstone rubble with limestone ashlar dressings, and is roofed in slate with stone coped gables and cross finials.

The church comprises a west tower, nave with north and south aisles, a clerestorey, south porch, and chancel.

The west tower dates to around 1500 and is of three stages. It features six-stage angle buttresses, a moulded plinth and string course. The pointed west doorway has a double bowtell continuous surround, hood mould and plank door. Above this runs a moulded string course with a pointed window featuring a bowtell moulded surround, three pointed cusped lights and perpendicular tracery, with a hood mould that extends into string courses on either side. A clock and moulded string course sit above, followed by bell openings on all four sides, each with a pointed head, bowtell moulded surround, two cusped ogee-headed lights and hood mould. The tower is finished with moulded eaves incorporating large corner gargoyles and a decorative open-work parapet with corner pinnacles.

The north aisle was rebuilt in 1826 and features a pointed west doorway with ashlar surround and panelled door. The north side contains three pointed windows with Y tracery. The clerestorey, dating to around 1500 and restored in the 19th century, contains three windows with flattened triangular heads, each with three almost round-headed cusped lights and bowtell moulded surrounds.

On the north side of the chancel is the partial outline of a 12th-century archway that originally led to the chantry chapel of St Bartholomew, featuring a semi-circular head and single impost. Inside this is a blocked rectangular 14th-century window with hood mould, flanked by a two-stage buttress to the left. The east end of the chancel features a pointed 19th-century window with three cusped ogee-headed and pointed lights, three oculi and hood mould, beneath which stand four 18th-century gravestones. The south side of the chancel contains a single 19th-century window with pointed head and two cusped ogee-headed lights with cusped mouchette.

The south aisle of the nave features an early 14th-century window, restored in the 19th century, with a pointed head and two cusped ogee-headed lights with quatrefoil. The south side contains a window of around 1500 with a flattened triangular head, three cusped ogee-headed lights and perpendicular tracery. The west end of the south aisle has a pointed window with an inner 14th-century window featuring a crocketed and finialised head with large label stops. The clerestorey of around 1500, restored in the 19th century, contains three windows, each with a flattened triangular head with three almost round-headed cusped lights and bowtell moulded surround.

The gabled south porch dates to the 15th century and was heavily restored in the 19th century. It features a pointed south doorway with a continuously chamfered surround and a sundial above. The porch interior contains flanking stone benches. An internal pointed doorway dating to around 1500 has a continuously moulded surround and hood mould, with a 16th-century plank door restored in the 19th century. A stoup sits in the north-east corner. A 15th-century rectangular window to the west of the porch features two cusped ogee-headed lights set in a triangular-headed opening.

Internally, a 14th-century tower arch has a pointed double-chamfered head that dies into the wall, with a 20th-century screen below. The nave roof line above predates the addition of the clerestorey. The mid 14th-century north and south arcades of three bays are tall and were restored in the 19th century. They feature double-chamfered pointed heads with the inner order of limestone and the outer of green sandstone, octagonal piers with 12th-century semi-circular moulded bases and 14th-century octagonal capitals and responds. Unusual fluted indentations appear in the west spandrel of the north aisle. The mid 14th-century chancel arch, heavily restored in the 19th century, features a pointed double-chamfered head with the inner order of limestone running continuously into the responds. A 19th-century panelled ceiling covers the nave, whilst a tie-beam roof spans the chancel. The interior fittings are largely 19th-century, including pews, pulpit, chairs, lectern and vestry screen. An altar rail of around 1730 features turned balusters with square knops and a broad rail. A plaque in the north aisle is inscribed with the restoration date of 1826.

A 14th-century octagonal font features foliate motifs on its lower side and is set upon a 20th-century pedestal of eight shafts.

The church contains numerous memorials: one to Edward Dymoke (died 1739) of black marble with serpentine head and coat of armour above; three memorials in black marble to Elizabeth Scaman (died 1839), Thomas Dymoke (died 1837) and the Reverend John Dymoke (died 1821), all with serpentine heads and aprons; a black and white monument with sepulchre and urns to the Reverend John Emeris (died 1819); a black marble monument to Elizabeth Probart (died 1830); and a grey and white marble monument to Charles Thorpe (died 1845).