Church Of St Cuthbert

The Church of St. Cuthbert is a parish church dating back to approximately 1300, with substantial restoration work undertaken in 1895 and the addition of a north-west tower by E.Turner of Leicester. The church is constructed of coursed and squared limestone and sandstone rubble, featuring ashlar quoins and dressings, and has plain tile roofs.

The north-west tower comprises four stages built on a basement, incorporating angle buttresses, a stepped plinth, a belfry string, and a crenellated parapet. The first stage has a three-light pointed window with intersecting tracery to the north, alongside windows to the east and west featuring two pointed lights and a circular head. Above these windows are lancets. The belfry stage has pointed lights with Y-tracery, flanked by blind lancet arcading.

The main body of the church consists of a three-bay nave, a south porch, and a three-bay chancel with a north chapel. The west front features a pointed doorway and a three-light pointed window above; the outer lights are acutely pointed, and the inner light rises to the soffit of the arch. Pointed windows to the north and south each have two cinquefoil-headed lights with a circle in the head containing a saltire cross, with a trefoil in each of the four compartments. The south porch, dating to 1895, is gabled with a timber-framed superstructure, and contains a south doorway from around 1300. The north chapel contains paired lancets to the north and west, while the east window mirrors the design of the west window of the nave.

Inside, the pointed chancel arch has two segment-moulded orders. The nave and chancel roofs are believed to be from the 14th century, but are concealed by boarded ceilings with segmental pointed sections. Windows of the nave and chancel have segmental pointed rere-arches. The piscina features a trefoiled-arched recess beneath two sunk, chamfered orders and a returned hood mould. Behind the altar are two rectangular aumbries rebated for doors. The church contains a mid-19th century Wenlock marble font, octagonal in shape, and a late 19th century octagonal wooden pulpit. Stalls incorporate fragments of 17th century woodwork. There is also a hinged oak chest, likely dating to the 16th century.

Sculptural elements include a 14th century stone tablet carved with an heraldic badge: a beast bearing a banner, located in the south-east corner of the nave. Memorials include one to Francis Walker, died 1776, an elaborate marble tablet with an obelisk and urn; and to John Edwards, died 1724, an aedicular tablet with a broken pediment containing a coat of arms and an angel head at the base. Brasses commemorate William Freeman, died 1671; Susanna Evans, died 1767; and Olivia and the Reverend Thomas Evans, died 1761 and 1762, with a wood aedicular surround featuring Corinthian pilasters and a scrolled pediment with an urn in the centre and volutes to the sides. Another brass is for Blanch Pryce, died 1758, with a lugged and pedimented surround. Stained glass windows date to 1891 and 1949.