Church Of The Assumption Of Our Lady

The Church of the Assumption of Our Lady is a parish church located on Main Street in Ashow. It features an early 12th-century chancel and nave, along with a mid-15th-century west tower. The tower, built in the Perpendicular style, is made of red sandstone ashlar and rises in three stages to a battlemented parapet. It has four-stage angle buttresses and additional buttresses that meet the west wall of the nave. The west door has a pointed arch, and above it is a two-light pointed window with cinquefoil tracery, along with a similar belfry window above that.

The north wall of the nave is constructed from coursed rubble of red sandstone with ashlar dressings. It features two small round-headed windows from the 12th century and two blocked doorways in the center: one from the late 12th century with a segmental head and the other from the 13th century with a two-centred arch and foliated capitals. The south wall of the nave has been entirely rebuilt in late 18th-century sandstone ashlar and includes two 2-light windows with four-centred heads and plain tracery, as well as a central door with a three-centred arch.

The north wall of the chancel is made of coursed sandstone rubble and has one round-headed window similar to those in the nave. The east gable wall is of ashlar, refaced in the 15th century, and features a three-light pointed window with cinquefoil tracery. The south wall of the chancel has a square-headed two-light window from the late 16th century. Both the nave and chancel have steeply pitched plain tile roofs with gabled ends.

Inside, the church is rendered. The chancel contains an early 12th-century wall arcade on both sides, consisting of four semi-circular arches supported by corbels. The nave roof dates from the 16th century and features tie beam trusses with angle struts, each tie beam adorned with a boss at the base of the king posts. The chancel roof also has tie beam trusses but with queen posts. The tower arch is lofty and has two splayed orders.

The interior includes box pews, an octagonal pulpit, a reading desk, a chancel dado, and an altar table, all made of oak and dating from the late 18th century. Above the entrance on the south wall of the nave is a painted coat of arms of George III. Additionally, there is a late 19th-century gothic font and a Flemish drafter from around 1550 behind the altar.