Church Of St Stephen

The Church of St Stephen is a building of 1861-1862, designed by Charles Preedy. It is constructed from sandstone ashlar with a plain tile roof. The church comprises an aisled nave and chancel, a north vestry, and a south Lady Chapel. A tower is situated to the southwest of the nave. The architectural style is Middle Pointed.

The east window is Decorated, featuring three trefoil-headed lights with quatrefoils above. The two-bay sides have impost and cill courses that sweep around offset angle buttresses, with trefoil-headed lights. The north side incorporates an offset stack where the vestry joins. The vestry has simple trefoil-headed lights and a pointed-arched door in its northeastern angle. The Lady Chapel, to the south of the chancel, has an apsidal east end with trefoil-headed windows; consecration crosses are carved in relief to the recessed apron panels. Its south elevation features three-light windows similar to those in the east chancel window.

The nave, of four bays, has two-light trefoil-headed windows with trefoiled roundels to the aisles, articulated by offset buttresses. Similar windows and paired clerestory openings are present. The south porch has a pointed moulded arch set on paired marble columns with stiff-leaf capitals; the inner door has decorative hinges. The west gable of the nave is lit by a four-light Decorated window, less deeply relieved than the east end, with cusped lights. A gabled porch, its ridge linked to the window sill, sits immediately below this window and has a similar doorway to the south porch.

The three-stage west tower is boldly articulated by offset corner buttresses, pinnacled at the top, and linked by a corbelled parapet with deeply recessed trefoil panels. The middle stage has trefoiled lancets, while the bottom and upper stages have richly detailed Decorated windows, including polychrome arches and engaged columns with foliate capitals to the upper stage. A stair tower is located to the northwest with chamfered slit lights.

Inside, the Decorated arcades have foliate capitals. The roof is open timber. Original fittings remain, including pews, a pulpit, a stone font, and choir fittings. There is some fine stained glass, including the windows to the north, likely by Hardman. The church represents a robust composition with some fine detail by the Birmingham architect.