Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church dating back to the early 15th century, with a 17th-century south porch and an internal wall inserted, likely in the 18th century, that separates the two western bays of the nave. The church was restored in 1883. It is constructed of sandstone rubble, with a timber-framed bell turret clad in weatherboard and stone slate roofs. The church consists of a nave with a bell turret and a south porch, and a chancel.

The nave and chancel have six bays. The west bell turret has a pyramidal roof. The south front features a small gabled dormer with a casement window positioned centrally, a square-headed window to the left, and two similar square-headed two-light windows to the right, which are part of the 1883 restoration. The C15 inner doorway has moulded jambs and a three-centred head. To the right of the porch, two further doorways probably date to the 15th century, with chamfered jambs and two-centred heads. The east window is of early 15th century origin; it’s square-headed with three cinquefoiled-ogee-headed lights. The north wall has no windows except for traces of a blocked square-headed window at the eastern end. A continuous stone bench runs along the east and south sides of the chancel, and along part of the east side of the south porch.

Inside, the two western bays of the nave are separated from the rest of the church by the inserted wall and are now used as a vestry, accessible through the south porch and a later square-headed doorway. The roof in these bays was renewed at the time of the wall's construction. The remaining four bays of the nave and chancel have braced collar-beam trusses; the blocking below these trusses suggests the former existence of tie-beams. Three rough tie-beams were added later. The soffit of the roof is boarded, and traces of painted foliage decoration survive on the purlins of the eastern bay, alongside a moulded and embattled wall-plate. A C18 wooden gallery, lit by the dormer window, is positioned to the west of the nave, against the inserted wall. In the south wall of the chancel, a piscina with two drains is present, though currently not in situ. The church retains two C18 oak communion tables, and a font dating from 1912.

Local tradition suggests the east window and piscina were moved from Craswall Priory. The vestry was used as a schoolroom during the 19th century. To the north of the church is a shallow rectangular depression, believed to have been a Fives Court, and to the north-west is another depression said to have served as a cockpit.