Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a building with a long history, incorporating fabric from the 12th century, significant additions from the 14th century, and a 13th-century core. It was restored in 1870, when the north and south walls were taken down, and again in 1872 to the chancel. It is constructed of squared limestone with a stone slate roof. The church comprises a west tower with a spire, a nave, a north transept, a south boiler house, and a lower chancel.

The ribbed spire features lucarnes with two trefoiled lights and corner pinnacles set back behind an embattled parapet. The tower is in three stages, with diagonal buttresses to the lower stage, and bell openings of two trefoiled lights with a foiled opening under a pointed head. The middle stage has a similar west window set within a larger blocked opening. Above the west doorway is a window of two trefoiled ogee lights under a flat head. The pointed and moulded west doorway has sunk quadrant mouldings in two orders. The south wall of the nave is divided into three bays and contains 19th-century windows, each with three cinquefoiled lights under a pointed head with Perpendicular tracery. A boiler house with a parapet and chimney is attached to the east bay. The north wall of the nave, similarly divided into two bays, has matching windows. The north wall of the transept contains a window of two pointed lights with a quatrefoil over, thought to be early or mid-19th century. There’s a 19th-century moulded pointed doorway and a round-headed window in the east wall of the transept. The east wall of the nave is coped, topped by a stone bellcote. The south wall of the chancel has a window of three trefoiled lights with Perpendicular tracery within a deeply-splayed opening, while a blocked arched opening is present in the north wall. The east window comprises three cusped lights with a cusped circle under a pointed head.

Inside, the nave is accessed from the tower through a restored doorway dating from around 1130 to 1140, featuring a round arch with a roll moulding between two square orders and angle shafts with cushion capitals. A window of two round-headed lights is located between the nave and the middle stage of the tower. The nave roof is 19th century, with king posts rising from arch-braced collar trusses. Niches with cinquefoiled heads and crocketted gables are set into the north and south sides of the nave. The pointed chancel arch is hollow-chamfered between two wave mouldings, and the inner order springs from engaged shafts. A blocked archway on the north side of the chancel leads to a former north chapel. At the east end of the chancel, early 13th-century triple clustered shafts with trumpet-scallop capitals were intended for rib vaulting. The pulpit and choir stalls incorporate reused woodwork with carved tracery decoration. The restored octagonal font is thought to be 17th century.