Church Of St Mary And All Saints

The Church of St Mary and All Saints is a parish church largely dating from the 12th century, with significant remodelling in the 17th century and a thorough restoration and slight extension around 1880. The nave is constructed of uncoursed sandstone rubble, while the 17th-century work and later restoration feature coursed rubble and ashlar on a chamfered plinth. The west gable end and belfry are timber framed, and the roof is machine tiled with graded slates to the belfry and porch roofs.

The church comprises a nave and chancel under a single roof, with a belfry at the west end. A late 19th-century west porch, a south vestry, and a north organ chamber have been added. The belfry, likely originally dating from around 1632 (as indicated by a date on the west door), was completely restored in the late 19th century. It has a close-studded timber frame with cross rails extending to the west gable, a pyramidal roof, and a brass weathervane. A clock on the west face commemorates Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, and below it is a flat-headed 17th-century window with five arched lights and hollow spandrels.

The nave and chancel are buttressed in four unequal bays on the south side, with 2-, 3- and 4-light 17th-century mullioned windows on both sides. These windows were likely originally arched, but were renewed in the late 19th century with trefoil heads. The east window is a restrained Decorated style, created around 1880. A gabled vestry on the south has a round-shafted chimney behind, and a gabled organ chamber on the north has a blocked 17th-century doorway immediately to the east. A lean-to west porch, also from the late 19th century, is timber framed on a sandstone plinth, imitating the earlier work.

Inside, the west door has a plain Tudor arch and a massive lintel inscribed "1632/ANN." The church features an arch-braced roof in seven bays, with the westernmost bay incorporating the belfry, accessible by a steep staircase in the southwest corner. The chancel is raised, separated from the nave by a low stone screen dating from around 1880. The lower parts of the walls are finished with late 19th-century glazed tiles, complemented by a mosaic reredos at the east end. Most other fittings and furnishings are also from the late 19th century, including the pulpit, stained glass in the chancel, choir stalls, and benches. A plain cylindrical font on a square chamfered plinth is likely late 12th century. A board dated 1736 records benefactions to the parish poor and hangs on the west wall, while 18th-century funerary hatchments to the Mainwaring family of nearby Whitmore Hall are displayed on the north and south walls. Monuments include an incised alabaster slab to Edward Mainwaring (died 1580) and his wife, located in the northeast corner, and a finely carved alabaster and marble memorial to Elizabeth Mainwaring (died 1674) on the wall above. The churchyard is separated from a tree-lined avenue leading to Whitmore Hall by a ha-ha.