Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary

A parish church dating from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, partly rebuilt in 1720 with later alterations. The building is constructed of sandstone rubble with sandstone and limestone dressings, beneath stone slate and tiled roofs. It comprises a west tower, a four-bay nave with a south porch, and a two-bay chancel.

The Tower

The tower is 13th-century in origin, built on a deep battered plinth with a keel-moulded string beneath three diminishing stages. A plain corbel-table runs beneath the eaves, supporting a pyramidal roof topped with a weathercock. The west elevation contains a 19th-century doorway with a shouldered head set within the plinth. The first stage is lit by a chamfered round-headed window with a label. The second stage has a tall rectangular opening. The top stage carries a pair of chamfered trefoil-headed openings on each face. The north and south sides each have a small chamfered central lancet above the plinth. The south side also has a single trefoil-headed light in the second stage.

Nave and Chancel

The north elevation of the nave displays a small lancet to the right-hand side and a blocked round-headed north doorway to the right of centre. To the left are a pair of blocked two-centred arches, remnants of a former arcade, one containing a pair of ogee-headed lights. A weathered buttress sits to the left-hand side beneath a kneeler and verge, from which rises a square 19th-century chimney shaft.

The chancel was rebuilt in 1720. Its north side has one central 19th-century trefoil-headed light. The east window is set within a two-centred arch and contains three stepped lights, the centre one with a trefoiled head. On the south side, a pair of recessed 19th-century lancets with a trefoil in a roundel above are positioned beneath a round earlier arch.

The south elevation of the nave features a pair of 19th-century lancets to the right-hand side, with a weathered buttress at the right corner. To the left of these lancets is a window containing a pair of chamfered and ogee-headed lights. Further left is a small ogee-headed light. The south porch dates to the late 19th century and displays a gable cross and diagonal buttresses. Its outer arch is four-centred limestone with blind mouchettes in the spandrels and a hoodmould. Each return has a truncated window with three ogee lights. The south doorway features a round 12th-century arch with a continuous roll-moulded inner order and a chamfered outer arch supported by a pair of shafts with deep fluted capitals; the label is stopped by imposts. A nail-studded 19th-century door occupies the opening.

Interior

The interior contains 19th-century scissor trusses to the chancel and nave, the latter having four additional chains connecting wall ties. The chancel holds a 17th-century communion table with turned balusters and a later top, together with a pair of 17th-century oak chairs featuring an arch motif to the back panel and seat-front. A 19th-century chancel arch, two-centred in form, springs from conical fluted corbels. Above this arch on the nave side is the label of an earlier arch. The nave retains a two-bay blocked arcade on the north wall, with two chamfered orders, the east arch terminating in an impost decorated with ballflower. The central round pier carries a massive capital of almost archaic Greek proportions. The tower arch displays three chamfered orders, the inner one featuring half-columns with moulded capitals and a continuous label. Above the tower arch is an opening with a two-centred head.

The font is probably of the early 13th century, consisting of a tapered round bowl and cylindrical stem. The tower contains 17th-century panelling decorated with typical arch and acanthus ornament. Continuous lozenge patterns form a string, and six medallions display bas-relief heads. Four of these are finely detailed in French Renaissance style, perhaps Flemish and 16th-century in origin, whilst the other two are more crudely executed.