Church Of St Oswald

The Church of St Oswald is a parish church dating to 1719-20, with a tower constructed around 1800 and a south aisle and west porch added circa 1850. The church is built of red sandstone ashlar with plain tile roofs, separately covering the nave and aisle. The building comprises a nave and chancel under a single roof, a west tower, and a south aisle with a west porch.

The tower is of Gothic design, featuring three stages. It has a chamfered plinth, a chamfered offset to the belfry, a coped parapet with a coved string, and a weathervane. The belfry is pierced by louvred, chamfered lancet windows. The west front has chamfered lancet windows on the first and second stages. A lozenge-shaped clock is situated below the belfry opening.

The nave and chancel have coped gable ends, topped with a cross. They feature three bays with round-arched windows, each having a half-H apron and plain architraves with impost blocks. The east end contains a large round-arched window of two round-arched lights with Venetian tracery, a half-H apron, plain architraves, impost blocks, and a raised keystone.

The south aisle has a chamfered plinth and eaves, with parapeted gable ends, chamfered coping, and moulded kneelers. An external stone end stack with an octagonal shaft is present to the west. The three bays have round-arched windows with half-H aprons, plain architraves, impost blocks, and raised keystones. A round-arched doorway is on the south-east, featuring a raised keystone and a boarded door with strap hinges. The west end has a round-arched window and doorway with chamfered reveals, a raised keystone, and a pair of two-panelled doors. The west porch has a chamfered plinth and eaves, a coped parapeted gable with moulded kneelers, a boarded door with strap hinges, chamfered reveals, and a keyed lintel. A chamfered trefoil side window is located to the south.

Inside, a central, circa 1850, four-bay arcade features octagonal piers with moulded capitals and chamfered round arches. A chamfered tower arch is also present. The 18th-century six-bay nave roof consists of king post trusses with cambered tie beams and pairs of purlins. The circa 1850 four-bay aisle roof has chamfered arch-braced collar trusses springing from stone corbels with king posts, and single purlins. Fittings include a circa 1850 wooden reredos, 19th-century altar rails with twisted balusters and moulded rail, an 18th-century polygonal wooden pulpit with moulded ribs and cornice, a 19th-century lectern incorporating a reused carved 17th-century panel, 19th-century choir stalls, circa 1800 box pews without doors and a former family pew with a door set at a right angle to the altar in the south aisle. An octagonal stone font, dated 1853, with a moulded base and stem is complemented by an iron-bound wooden cover. A large organ is also present. Encaustic tiles floor the sanctuary, and there is stained glass in the east window.