Church of Saint Mary

The Church of Saint Mary is a parish church dating from 1865-68, designed by Henry Clutton for William, 8th Duke of Bedford. It is constructed of ashlar with tiled roofs and comprises a chancel, a north vestry, a nave, north and south aisles, and a west tower.

The church's architectural style draws on late 12th-century French influences. The majority of the windows are single-light openings without tracery, flanked by engaged, slender columns with almost semi-circular pointed arches and dripstones. Most buttresses are topped with gargoyle waterspouts, and the parapets are largely plain with ornamental corbelling. Stone coping to the gables is accentuated by a variety of cross finials.

The chancel, of three bays, sits atop a vaulted crypt. The side walls contain three windows each, and the east elevation has two windows crowned by a rose window at attic level. The single-storeyed north vestry has a pyramidal roof and a tall chimney stack to its north side, featuring square-headed mullioned windows to the east. The nave, five bays in length, is built on a lower floor level than the chancel. The west elevation features two windows surmounted by a rose window at attic level. Five-bay arcades extend to both sides, featuring slender paired columns with shaft rings and crocket capitals. These columns support ribbed stone vaulting to both the nave and aisles.

The north aisle is five bays long, with one window each at the west and east ends and five to the north. The south aisle spans four bays, with four windows facing south and one to the east. The west tower occupies the space that would have been the fifth bay of the south aisle. A circular stair turret is located on the north-east angle. The tower includes a shallow angle buttresses and embattled parapet. The main entrance is located on the south elevation, consisting of square-headed double doors within a moulded round-arch featuring slender engaged columns, set within a gabled bay that projects to align with the buttresses and has carved lizard stops to the moulding.

The bell-stage is characterised by paired louvred openings, similar to the windows, but more deeply recessed, with three columns to each side of the surround. Blind arcading adorns the stair turret at this level. Gargoyles project from the top angles of the parapet.

Inside, the nave and aisles are distinguished by engaged columns, foliage carving to the capitals, and ribbed vaulting. Carved decoration embellishes the chancel panelling and choirstalls, as well as the organ (located at the east end of the north aisle) and pulpit (projecting into the nave from the chancel). A gilded and painted reredos by Caröe depicts scenes of the Annunciation, Nativity, angels, and saints within elaborate canopies. Stained glass by Kempe from 1893 fills the east windows of the chancel. A circular font with carved decoration of crosses and doves in circles is situated within the nave.