Roman Catholic Church of St Mary

The Roman Catholic Church of St Mary was built between 1815 and 1816 in a Gothic style, with alterations made in the mid-19th century and mid-20th century. It is constructed of red brick, with rendered gable ends and stone dressings, all set beneath a slate tiled, gabled roof with stone coping and kneelers to the south-east end.

The church is rectangular, containing a nave and chancel of five bays under one roof. A mid-20th century gabled porch is located at the north-east end. Attached to the church is a presbytery (separately listed at Grade II), originally a 17th-century house that was extended in the early 19th century, and which now incorporates a sacristy.

The church sits in a rural setting. The south-east entrance front features a mid-20th century gabled porch with stepped corner buttresses. Within the porch are a pair of wooden doors set within a pointed-arched, moulded stone surround with a hoodmould and label stops. Above the entrance is a small, narrow light, and the side walls have single lancet windows. A small, early-20th century statue of Our Lady is housed in a niche in the gable apex, sheltered by a hoodmould. Stepped buttresses mark the corners, originally topped with pinnacles. The side elevations are divided into five bays by buttresses, with each bay containing a two-light lancet window with leaded lights under a pointed-arched lintel of header bricks with stone stops.

The interior is simple, with painted walls and ceiling. A mid-20th century organ gallery is supported by a pair of quatrefoil cast-iron columns, with a painted panel depicting scenes from the life of Christ. It is reached by a Gothic timber staircase. Fittings are largely 20th-century, but earlier features include a stained glass Annunciation window of 1848 by A W N Pugin, manufactured by Hardman, and several late-18th and early-19th century wall-mounted memorials, some relocated from Paynsley. A brass memorial is set into the floor. A mid-19th century, Romanesque-style stone font is located within the porch. The sanctuary (south-west) contains a 20th-century marble altar with mosaic and opus sectile panels (a type of mosaic using stone, tile, or shell). Two doorways with pointed heads and timber doors with cusp-headed mouldings to the panels are in the sanctuary wall, one leading to the confessional, the other to the sacristy within the presbytery.

A modern access ramp to the front of the church is flanked by low brick walls with metal railings.