Church Of St Mary Magdalene

The Church of St Mary Magdalene is a parish church dating back to the 12th century, with significant alterations in the 13th and 14th centuries and a 19th-century restoration. It is constructed of sandstone rubble with dressings of the same material, covered by a Welsh slate roof.

The church comprises a west tower, a nave, and a chancel. The three-stage west tower has string courses and a pyramidal roof. It features lancet windows to the north and south, a doorway to the west with a two-centred arched head of three orders, a lancet to the west and south on the second stage, and pairs of lancets to the bell stage.

The nave has a 13th-century lancet on the left, a two-light 19th-century window, and an early 14th-century window of two cinquefoil-headed lights on the right, alongside a 19th-century porch. The south doorway is a mid- to late 13th-century design with a two-centred arched head of three orders, the inner order rounded and the outer two moulded. The north side of the nave features a later 13th-century window with two trefoil-headed lights and a quatrefoil, and a two-light 19th-century window. A single, semi-circular headed light from the 12th century and a 19th-century lancet are also present.

The chancel’s south side has an early 14th-century window with two cinquefoil-headed lights and a 13th or 14th-century doorway with chamfered jambs and a segmental pointed head. The north side of the chancel contains an early 14th-century window with two trefoiled ogee-headed lights and a quatrefoil, a late 13th-century window with a trefoil-headed light, and a three-light 19th-century window to the east end.

Inside, the tower arch is two-centred, with three orders – the outer plain and the inner moulded, carried on attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The chancel arch is early 14th century, with two chamfered ribs dying onto square responds. A 15th-century rood loft stair has square-headed doorways in the south respond of the arch and to the west. The church contains a 12th or 13th-century font with a circular bowl, capping, and base, a piscina in the west wall of the nave above the chancel arch with a trefoiled head, and a further piscina in the chancel with a trefoiled head. There are also early 14th-century sedilia in the chancel, consisting of three recessed seats with trefoiled heads. A tomb recess in the south wall of the nave has a moulded segmental arch, sub-cusping, a gabled and finialed label with ball flower ornament, and is flanked by tall pedestals with trefoiled panels. A pair of similar recesses are located in the north wall of the chancel; the eastern recess retains a slab with an incised female figure with a veiled headdress.