Church Of St Martin

Church of St Martin

This parish church dates from the 13th to 16th centuries, with later Victorian restoration and extensions. The building is constructed of irregularly coursed ashlar and squared rubble with ashlar dressings, and is roofed in lead and slate. It comprises a west tower, nave, chancel, north aisle, vestry, and south porch.

The west tower, built in 1504, is faced in ashlar and rises in three stages on a plinth. It features two string courses and a battlemented parapet decorated with eight crocketed pinnacles. Two diagonal buttresses flank the west face, each with three setoffs. Plain buttresses stand to the north-east and south-east, with three and four setoffs respectively; the northern buttress is engaged with the aisle. The west window is 15th-century work, with a cove-moulded surround containing three round-headed lights with chamfered mullions below and four similar lights above. The third stage contains four double-lancet bell openings with cusped heads. A 19th-century iron clock dial is set into the west face.

The north aisle is 19th-century work, comprising three bays of irregularly coursed ashlar with four buttresses, each with two setoffs. It has a moulded parapet and a battlemented east gable. The east end is lit by a large Decorated triple-lancet window with panel tracery. A moulded but blocked doorway lies to the east. Above it a battlemented gable projects. To the right are two square-headed openings with label moulds, each containing a triple lancet with Decorated tracery and chamfered mullions. The east window is similar.

The vestry, also 19th-century, is built of irregularly coursed ashlar with a chamfered plinth and lead roof with moulded coped eaves. A single diagonal buttress with two setoffs stands to the west, and a pair of clasping buttresses with two setoffs each stands to the east. The east face contains a square-headed, chamfered and rebated opening holding a double Decorated lancet with chamfered mullion. The west face has a moulded but blocked doorway.

The chancel is 19th-century work comprising two bays of irregularly coursed ashlar with a slate roof, chamfered plinth, moulded string course, and battlemented parapet. It is topped by four crocketed pinnacles (two each side) and a battlemented east gable with cross. The north side features a square-headed coved opening containing a triple Decorated lancet with coved mullions; a chamfered blocked doorway lies to the west. The south side has a central rebated priest's door flanked to the west by a square-headed, chamfered opening with label mould containing a triple Decorated lancet with cusped heads. The east end has two diagonal buttresses with four setoffs and plinth; a shallow arched coved opening with plain label mould holds a triple lancet with cusped heads, panel tracery, and coved mullions.

The nave dates to circa 1504 and is four bays in extent with a moulded plinth, string course, and battlemented parapet. Three buttresses with three setoffs appear on the south side only. Rainwater heads are dated 1891. The west face contains a square-headed coved opening with label mould and stops, holding a double lancet with Decorated tracery and chamfered mullion. To the east is a 19th-century pointed-arched coved opening with label mould and mask stops, containing a triple lancet with cusped heads. Beyond to the east is a square-headed, chamfered and rebated opening with label mould holding a 19th-century double lancet with Decorated tracery.

The south porch is 14th-century work, restored in the 19th century. It has a chamfered pointed-arched opening with moulded head and label mould with leaf stops. A steep pitched scissor-braced slate roof with coped gable and cross covers it. The south door is a 15th-century chamfered arched opening; a 19th-century door with elaborate hinges now hangs there.

Interior

The nave north arcade is 13th-century, comprising two bays plus an extra bay to the east. A central round pier on a broached square base with moulded square capital supports the arches. The responds are keeled on square and octagonal bases with square capitals. The eastern pier is rectangular. The arches are chamfered and rebated. The south side has a central pointed-arched opening flanked by single square-headed openings, all splayed. The 19th-century roof features octagonal capitals carrying curved braces to the beams, arch braces to principal rafters, curved braces from brackets to the ridge, and decorative wind braces to purlins.

The 19th-century font has a square base with five octagonal columns supporting an egg-shaped bowl with lozenge frieze on the rim. The tower arch is 13th-century, double-chamfered and rebated with moulded octagonal imposts. A 19th-century perpendicular-style screen with seven panels stands nearby. A fragment of 15th-century glass remains in the west window. The north aisle contains 19th-century stained glass in all four windows. A blocked doorway appears in the north-east corner. The 19th-century roof features decorative wind braces.

Panelling with moulding and a cross at the west end of the chancel stands in place of a chancel arch. A 19th-century Decorated-style screen with seven panels occupies the chancel. In the north-east corner stands a monument to John Helwys dated 1599, carved in alabaster. It comprises a rectangular panelled table base with moulded edge; carved balusters frame the inscription (now detached); a strapwork frieze sits below a moulded cornice; above is a triangular pediment with central boss flanked by square baluster finials with pyramidal caps.

The east wall of the chancel holds a 19th-century alabaster and mosaic reredos. The south wall contains an elaborate 14th-century ogee-headed piscina to the east. The east window was designed by Clayton and Bell in 1865. One north window and two south windows were designed by Kempe in 1885. The 19th-century king-post roof features octagonal corbels carrying arch braces to a chamfered ridge, with panels having large carved central bosses.

Historical Note

The chancel was restored by Pearson in 1885–6. The north aisle was constructed by Weatherley and Jones in 1891.