Church Of Saint Margaret

The Church of Saint Margaret is a parish church located on Whitnash Road. Except for the late 15th-century west tower, the church was rebuilt in the 19th century by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The chancel was completed in 1855, the south aisle and south porch in 1867, and the nave was finished in 1880 after Scott's death. The tower is made of sandstone and features two stages, a moulded plinth, an embattled parapet, and diagonal buttresses. The west doorway has a four-centred head, and above it is a window with three trefoil lights. The rest of the church is constructed of brickwork faced with ashlar, topped by a steeply pitched tiled roof supported by trussed rafters. The windows have trefoil lights, except for the lancets on the north and south sides of the chancel. The entrances to the porch and south aisle have arches with two continuous orders on moulded capitals and bases, featuring red sandstone shafts.

Inside, the church boasts richly carved arcade and chancel arch capitals, as well as a pulpit and font dated 1848, along with relief carving around the altar, all created by Agnes Bonham. The south side of the chancel includes a piscina and sedilia with cinquefoil heads and hood-moulds. Notable monuments include a brass fixed to the south wall of the chancel, depicting two figures in civilian costume from around 1500, assigned to Benedict Medley (died 1503) and his wife. On the north wall, there is an incised brass of a cleric holding a chalice with a paten, assigned to Richard Bennet, M.A., Rector, who died in 1531. The Victorian pulpit on the south side of the chancel arch features carved trefoil panels and coloured marble shafts, with an octagonal stem also made of coloured marble with carved capitals. A Victorian font, dated 1848, is located to the west of the south door. The stained glass includes work by Hollard in the east window and by Alfred Bell, later of Clayton and Bell, in the north window of the chancel, dated 1856.