Parish Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The parish church of St Mary the Virgin dates primarily to the 14th century, with details from the 15th century and substantial late 19th-century alterations, including replacement window tracery. It served as a collegiate church from 1404 to 1547. The building is constructed of ironstone with dressings in Totternhoe clunch, and has slate roofs. It comprises a chancel, a north vestry and organ chamber, a nave with north and south aisles, a south porch, and a west tower.

The chancel features a plain parapet and a five-light east window of 1880. Three south windows, the easternmost retaining some original tracery, are present. A priest’s door is located below the central window, and an opening in the northwest wall connects to the organ chamber. An organ chamber and vestry were added in 1862 by H. Woodyer, featuring a rose window as part of their fenestration. The chancel arch was rebuilt in 1862.

The nave has four pointed arch arcades to both north and south, supported by shafted piers, with the ironstone piers contrasted by stone responds and capitals for the western piers. The north aisle includes 15th-century windows in the first and second bays, a 14th-century door in the third, and a 14th-century window in the fourth. A 14th-century window is also present in the west wall. The south aisle mirrors the north aisle's fenestration and includes a pointed arch doorway. Embattled parapets run along both aisles.

The south porch was largely restored in the 19th century. It is two-storied, incorporating a 15th-century vault and parvis. The two-bay vault contains three carved bosses, one displaying the arms of Sir John Trailly. A staircase leads west, and the parvis, originally a chapel to St Anne, has a four-light opening to the south aisle and a two-light south window, topped by an embattled parapet.

The three-stage west tower has a 15th-century top stage. Angle buttresses rise for three stages, and a stair turret is located in the northeast corner. A 19th-century doorway is on the south elevation, and a three-light window sits above it on the west. The top stage has a two-light pointed arch window to the north and south, and paired two-light windows with square heads to the west and east. An embattled parapet tops the tower.

Inside, a mid-to-late 19th-century font is found. A 19th-century rood screen incorporates some 15th-century elements; similarly, the choir stalls and the parvis stair door contain older work. The chancel roof is 19th century, while the nave roof, with strutted crown posts and plain aisle roofs, may date to the 14th century. A wall monument to John Harvey (d. 1793) by T King of Bath, depicting an oval inscription beside a draped urn, is in the north aisle. The south aisle contains three large panels of stained glass from 1664, by John Oliver, originally commissioned by the Company of Grocers to commemorate restoration work and a bequest from Lady Margaret Slaney. They originally formed the east window, depicting the Royal arms of Charles II flanked by the arms of the Grocers' Company and of Margaret Slaney. These were moved to the south aisle in 1880. Windows by C E Kempe (1897, north aisle) and (1906, chancel) are also present, along with windows by Clayton and Bell in the west windows of the aisles and tower.