Church of St Thomas

The Church of St Thomas is a parish church dating to 1837, possibly designed by Mrs. Kinnersley of Clough Hall (now demolished), with a chancel added in 1853 by Scott. It is constructed of red and blue brick in English bond, with a slate roof, and the chancel is of chisel-dressed freestone with ashlar quoins and dressings, and has a plain tile roof with shaped tile bands and stone coped verges. The church includes a west tower, flanked by a pair of western annexes which continue the roof line of a three-and-a-half bay nave, and a two-bay chancel.

The four-stage west tower features a battlemented parapet, a pointed west door with a returned dripstone and raised key, a small window above with three pointed lights and a square dripstone, clocks within moulded circular surrounds on the third stage, and lancet belfry windows. Each western annex has a lancet window. The nave has lancet windows with returned dripstones and raised keys, with buttresses dividing the bays.

The chancel boasts pointed windows with Geometric tracery and scroll-moulded dripstones culminating in carved heads or naturalistic foliage. A scroll-moulded sill string continues over a central pointed south door as a dripstone. Gabled buttresses are present at the bay divisions and corners.

Inside the nave, a decorative plaster fringe runs along the top of the walls and king-post roof trusses are supported by Perpendicular tracery. A panelled west gallery rests on slim cast iron columns of quatrefoil section with moulded capitals, and carries an organ with Gothic tracery. A high, pointed chancel arch features several roll and fillet moulded orders on cylindrical columns with moulded capitals, with a hoodmould terminating in carved heads. The chancel windows have pointed rere arches with roll and fillet moulded hoods terminating in bunches of stiff leaf.

Fittings include a five-bay marble reredos with trefoil headed panels and a central crocketed hood, a contemporary altar table and rail with octagonal shafts and moulded capitals, panelled stalls of a similar date, and a pulpit, likely by Scott, comprised of marble columns with capitals of naturalistic foliage and octagonal panels displaying the symbols of the Evangelists. There is also a C19 octagonal font with panelled sides and ball flower ornament.