Church of St. Cuthbert

The Church of St. Cuthbert is a parish church with origins in the late 11th century, significantly altered around 1175 and the 14th century, and largely restored and partly rebuilt in 1858 by James Fowler. The church is constructed from coursed ironstone and limestone rubble, with limestone ashlar detailing. It features plain tiled roofs with decorative ridge tiles, stone coped gables, and a lead-covered spire.

The church comprises a late 11th-century west tower, a nave with a north aisle, and a rectangular chancel with a north chapel. The west tower, refurbished in the 14th century and restored in the 19th century, has a squat pyramidal spire. The west doorway, also refurbished in the 14th century, has a pointed, chamfered head, partially chamfered jambs, a hood mould, head label stops, and a plank door. Bell openings on all four sides were heavily restored in the 19th century, each featuring paired cusped, pointed openings separated by a shaft with a round moulded capital, a trefoil, hood moulds, and head label stops. Decorative 19th-century corbel tables, corner battlements, and a weather vane adorn the tower.

The nave, north aisle, and chancel exterior walls were rebuilt in 1858. The north aisle has a plinth and a single cusped west lancet with a relieving arch, incorporating single-stage angle buttresses. A string course runs along the north side of the aisle, above which are three windows, and two pairs of cusped lights to the west and a single cusped light to the east. The chancel’s plain north wall features angle buttresses with shaped upper stages, a string course under the three-lancet east window with a hood mould and label stops, and two windows separated by a two-stage buttress with a shaped upper stage. The south side of the chancel has a plinth and windows divided by a two-stage buttress. The east window has two cusped lights and an oculus, with a pointed hood mould and label stops. The south side of the nave displays pairs of pointed cusped lancets divided by two-stage buttresses, culminating in a single two-stage buttress to the west.

Inside, the 11th-century tower arch has a small round head and heavy chamfered imposts. A plaque commemorates the church’s rebuilding and restoration in 1859. The two large, late 12th-century north arcade bays showcase barely pointed, double chamfered arches with broaches on the abaci, hood moulds, keeled responds, a circular pier, and bold stiff leaf capitals. The 19th-century chancel arch is a filleted, moulded head with a hood mould and ornate label stops, and is supported on responds with three clustered shafts and ornate foliated capitals. The 14th-century north-east chapel arch is a pointed arch of two orders dying into the imposts. Timber roofs cover the nave and chancel. A 14th-century piscina is situated in the north chancel wall, featuring an ornate cusped hood mould with heads and a finial. The 19th-century east window is flanked by nook shafts with a hood mould and ornate label stops. Other interior features include 19th-century pews, a pulpit, a drum font, and an altar with a pink, green and blue marble reredos of 1869, flanked by kneeling angels. Two 19th-century monuments are also present.