Church Of Saint Chad

The Church of St Chad is a parish church with origins dating back to the mid-12th century, as evidenced by the angles of the nave and blocked windows in the north wall of the chancel. A doorway, since re-set, also suggests this early date. The north aisle and west tower were added in the late 14th century, followed by the south aisle in the early 15th century. A clerestory was subsequently added. The east and south walls of the chancel were rebuilt in 1855, and a vestry was constructed in 1898. The chancel features an east window of three lights with tracery, and two single-light windows with tracery on the south side. Two small, blocked 12th-century windows are visible in the north wall, which is largely obscured by the vestry. The church is roofed with steep-pitched plain tiles.

The north aisle has a modern east window of two lights and tracery, alongside three late-14th century windows with two-trefoil lights, a square head, and a re-set, walled-up 12th-century doorway. A two-light window with a square head is located in the west wall, flanked by two large, modern, raking buttresses. The south aisle features a modern east window of two lights and a square head. Three south windows are present: the easternmost with two cinque-foiled lights and a square head, the next two with two trefoiled lights and foiled spandrels under square heads. A two-light, square-headed window is found in the west wall, accompanied by a modern pointed south doorway with two chamfered orders and a hood mould. This aisle is roofed with a low-pitched lead roof. The clerestory has three windows on the north side and four on the south, each featuring two trefoiled, ogee-headed lights and foiled spandrels within a square head, topped by a plain parapet.

A gabled, 18th-century south porch has a three-centred entrance archway. The west tower is of three storeys with restored embattled parapets and diagonal buttresses. A west window incorporates three cinque-foiled lights with restored tracery within a two-centred head, below which a modern doorway has been cut. The bell chamber is lit by tall, narrow windows featuring two trefoiled lights and a quatrefoil within a two-centred head.

Inside, the chancel boasts a modern barrel vaulted roof. The acutely pointed chancel arch has two chamfered orders. The nave roof, divided into four bays by hollow chamfered cross-beams and wall-posts dating back to the 15th century, was reconstructed in 1704, a date carved on the westernmost beam. The nave has north and south arcades of three bays; the northern arches are pointed, while those in the south arcade are slightly shorter and less tall. The tower arch is two-centred and features two hollow chamfered orders. A communion table from the 17th century is present, alongside a modern font in the south aisle. Wall paintings of 15th and 16th-century origin are found on the south wall of the south aisle. A pulpit, dating from circa 1860, is also incorporated. Stained glass, created by William Morris and Philip Webb in 1863, is featured in the east window of the north aisle. Monuments include a substantial one to Coombe Wagstaff (1668) on the north side of the chancel, and others to Sir Thomas Wagstaff and his wife (1708), John Wagstaffe and his wife Alice (1681), John and Elizabeth Rous (1687), and Walter and Elizabeth Landor's daughters (1854), all on various walls. Another monument commemorates Ann Burslem, dated 1794.