Church of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church with origins potentially dating back to the medieval or pre-Conquest period. The main structure was rebuilt in the 18th century and again in 1790, later undergoing extensive renovation in 1883 by Lynam and Rickman of Stoke-on-Trent. It is constructed of sandstone ashlar with machine tiled and graded slate roofs. The church comprises a nave and chancel under a single roof, a west tower, a north aisle extending the full length of the building, and a south porch.

The west tower is tall, rising in three stages with angle buttresses. It features reticulated tracery to the west window and in the belfry openings. Single cusped lights are present on the first and second stages, except on the west side, with rectangular slits on the south lighting an internal stair turret. The embattled parapet, complete with corner pinnacles and a gargoyle on the east side, is likely 15th century, while a blocked doorway on the south bears the inscription “NW/179(?)0”.

The continuous nave and chancel have five bays with flat-headed windows of three cusped lights. The chancel's two eastern bays feature quatrefoils above the windows. A gabled stone porch is located in the first bay from the west, with a single cusped window immediately to its west. The east window, of five lights, exhibits an unusual form of reticulated tracery. The north aisle, also of five bays, is similarly styled and features a roof of large graded slates with three slate-hung gabled dormers. A pointed doorway is situated between the first and second bays from the east, and an indecipherable inscription tablet is in the east wall.

The interior features a good triple-chamfered pointed tower arch dating to approximately 1340. The remainder of the church and its fittings are largely from 1883, with arch-braced roofs throughout, painted in the chancel. The two eastern bays of the north aisle are partitioned to create a north chancel chapel. An octagonal font, dating to 1850, is also present. Stained glass, primarily by C.E. Kempe, of high quality ranging in date from 1891 to 1905, is found throughout, except in the single-light cusped window west of the porch. Notable features include 18th century tablets commemorating members of the Chetwode family on the east wall of the north chancel chapel. Historical records indicate the presence of a priest here during the Domesday period.