Church Of St Mary

A parish church of limestone coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, some red brick and render, featuring lead roofs with stone coped gables with kneelers and cross finials. The building dates from the late 12th century and early 13th century, with significant early 15th-century work, 18th-century additions, and restoration undertaken from 1875 to 1892. It comprises a west tower, nave with north and south aisles, south porch, and chancel with north organ chamber.

The west tower is a striking feature, originally late 12th century but raised to three stages in the 15th century. It has a moulded plinth, six-stage angle buttresses with a broad south pilaster containing a slit staircase light. The pointed west doorway dates to around 1200, with two chamfered orders and moulded imposts running into flanking string courses; it retains a plank door. A single lancet sits above, with matching lancets on the north and south sides. Above these runs a blind arcade on the west and north sides, each containing five pointed arches with slender shafts and moulded capitals. The south side has a fragmentary arcade with three pointed ashlar heads and 18th-century brick patching. The 15th-century bell stage above features bell openings on all four sides, each with a pointed head, continuous chamfered surround, two pointed cusped lights, and simple panel tracery. Moulded eaves and battlements with ornate pinnacles crown the tower.

The north aisle was partially rebuilt in the 19th century with regularly placed two-stage buttresses. Its west end contains a 19th-century window with a flattened pointed head, three pointed cusped lights, hood mould with decorative motifs and head label stops. The four-bay north side has the second bay rendered; the other three bays each contain a single 15th-century window, restored in the 19th century to varying degrees, each with a flattened pointed head, three pointed cusped lights, hood mould and head label stops. A 15th-century clerestory has three pointed windows, each with two cusped lights, with a parapet above.

A 19th-century organ chamber projects to the east, gabled to the north with a single window featuring a segmental head, three cusped ogee-headed lights, panel tracery, hood mould and head label stops. An east coalhole doorway, partially below ground level, has a segmental head and board door.

The 19th-century chancel has a moulded plinth, eaves and two-stage angle buttresses. A large east window with a flattened pointed head contains four ogee-cusped lights with panel tracery, bowtell moulded surround, hood mould and head label stops. The south side has a decorative blocked doorway to the east with a segmental head and rising string course. A two-stage buttress to its left is followed by a window with a segmental head, three ogee-headed cusped lights, panel tracery, hood mould and head label stops.

The south aisle has a plinth and regularly placed two-stage buttresses. Its east end contains a restored 15th-century window with a flattened pointed head, three cusped ogee-headed lights, hood mould and head label stops. The south side has two similar windows to the right, a gabled porch of 1874 to the left, with a similar window beyond, and another in the west end of the south aisle. The porch has a pointed, double-chamfered south doorway with semi-circular responds, moulded capitals, hood mould, head label stops, and wood and wire doors. The date '1874' is inscribed above.

Interior features include a 15th-century doorway with a broad pointed, cavetto-moulded head, each of the ten voussoirs bearing a large bust (partially recut in the 19th century); roll-moulded jambs, hood mould, head label stops, and a bust at the apex serving as a niche pedestal. A pointed, double-chamfered late 12th-century tower arch has scalloped and moulded corbelled capitals.

The early 13th-century north and south arcades are significant: the south arcade comprises four bays with round piers, semi-circular responds and bands of chipstar on the capitals; the north arcade has five bays, with the westernmost bay being larger and featuring a round pier hollowed to receive four detached shafts with continuous moulded capitals. The remaining piers and responds match those of the south arcade, and all bays have pointed, double-chamfered heads with hood moulds and foliate and head label stops, restored in the 19th century. North and south nave doorways have 19th-century hood moulds and head label stops. The south aisle contains a piscina with a cinquefoil head.

A 19th-century pointed chancel arch with continuous double chamfers is accompanied by an early 20th-century screen. A 19th-century north organ arch in the chancel has a flattened triangular, double-chamfered head. Single blind openings with triangular heads appear in the north and south walls to the east.

Nineteenth-century additions include the roofs, pulpit, pews, lectern, altar, reredos and choir stalls. An 18th-century hatchment hangs above the tower arch, flanked by Commandment boards. A 15th-century octagonal font sits on a 19th-century pedestal; the bowl has cusped panels containing shields with emblems of the Passion. An 18th-century communion rail features twisted balusters.

A notable black and white marble monument with a broken pediment, triglyph entablature, flanking fluted pilasters, cross, palms and coat of arms commemorates Edward Barkham, died 1724.