Church Of Saints Cosmas And Damian

The Church of St Cosmas and St Damian is a former parish church, dating to the 12th century, with extensions from the 13th century and partial rebuilding in the 14th century. It was restored in 1875 and 1922. The church is constructed of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, roofed with machine tiles. A shingled bellcote with a small broach spire is situated on the west end. The building comprises two naves and two chancels unified under a single roof, with a south porch.

The north nave and chancel, dating to the 12th century, feature a large lancet window and a smaller 12th-century window with a semi-circular head on the north wall. Near the west end is a blocked 12th-century doorway with a semi-circular head and chamfered jambs. The west window has two trefoiled lights, above which is a circular window. The east window has two pointed lights set under a two-centred head with an ogee point. The south nave and chancel, built in the 13th century, contain two lancet windows. The timber-framed south porch, dating to the 15th century, has an arch-braced tie-beam and a south door with chamfered jambs and a two-centred head. The west window has two trefoiled lights under a square head, while the east window has three pointed lights with intersecting tracery under a two-centred head with an ogee point.

Inside, a central arcade of three bays contains two-centred arches with two chamfered orders on circular piers, moulded capitals, and bases. The eastern respond, rebuilt in the 15th century, features a rectangular stone structure with crenellated cornice, a recess with moulded jambs, and a square head. Two tomb recesses are located in the north wall; the eastern recess has a moulded ogee arch with a label and head stops, containing effigies of a knight and his wife, likely from the early 14th century. The western recess has a segmental pointed arch above mid-14th-century stone effigies. The roof, probably dating to the 15th century, is a two-bay structure with wall posts reaching the floor and intermediate trusses. The western truss has a tie beam and arch-braced collar, forming part of the bellcote structure, while the intermediate truss is supported on corbels. The collar is arch-braced and rests on a crown post above the arcade. The central and eastern trusses are similar, the latter featuring a tie beam, arch-braced collar, crown post, and V-struts in the apex. There are four tiers of purlins—the upper two with curved wind braces, the lower two with cusped wind braces. The second purlin up is square-set, and the principal rafter terminates at the collar in a manner resembling a base cruck. The screens, dividing the nave, each have three bays— the central one containing a door, the outer bays featuring three openings with ogee trefoil heads and tracery. The church is under the care of the Redundant Churches Fund.