Church Of St Mary The Virgin With Boundary Walls And Gates

The Church of St Mary the Virgin dates to 1722 and was built for William Huntington. It is a brick church with a pantiled roof and ashlar dressings. A one-bay, 18th-century brick addition with a pantiled roof stands at the east end. The church features a brick plinth with moulded coping, chamfered quoins, a moulded brick eaves band, a moulded coped parapet to the gables, and moulded sills. A bell turret is located at the west end.

The west side of the church has a moulded ashlar door case with a frieze and cornice, leading to a double-leaf eight-panelled door with a panelled overlight. Above the door is a datestone inscribed 'W.H.1722'. To the left of the door are three large round-headed leaded windows with keystones, and decorative lead rainwater heads and downpipes. A similar window is present at the west end. The east side has a round-headed doorway with a keystone, housing a 20th-century double-leaf panelled door with a fanlight, and two round-headed leaded windows with keystones to the right.

The interior is plastered and features splayed window reveals, an elaborate plaster cornice to a coffered ceiling with a central acanthus leaf boss, and 20th-century light fittings. Stained glass from 1842 is present in the central window on the north side. Notable fittings include a plain baluster font, railing at the west end with turned balusters, a panelled open pulpit, a carved eagle lectern, and framed pine pews dating circa 1900.

The east end contains an altar place flanked by single Ionic pilasters with decorative capitals, and beyond, single moulded doorcases with friezes and cornices, each with a six-panelled door. Inscribed panels are positioned above the doors: the panel on the left displays the Lord's Prayer, and the panel on the right displays the Creed. Above these are scrollwork framed oval cartouches, inscribed with verses from Psalm XLI and Psalm CXXXII. A sculpted monument to William Huntington, who died in 1714 and created by E. Poynton, is located in the northwest corner, comprising a marble and slate base, an inscribed panelled frieze, engaged square balusters, a cornice, and a clothed reclining figure holding a draft of a ship. Further classical-style memorials are present from 1824, 1809, 1825, 1840 and 1863.

Outside, to the west, a stone-coped brick boundary wall features scrolled brackets and an iron spearhead railing. Two square brick gate piers have tapered square caps and ball finials. To the east, a rendered brick boundary wall with stone coping encloses the burial ground. A double-leaf close boarded gateway with a timber lintel is located to the south, and two niches are present to the east. A central 19th-century panelled stone font is also present.