Church Of St Bartholomew

The Church of St Bartholomew is a parish church largely rebuilt in the second half of the 15th century, with a late 14th-century west tower that was repaired in 1676, as indicated by a dated lead plaque. The church was restored in 1873 by G. Vialls, ARIBA, at which time the north porch was rebuilt and an organ chamber and vestry were added. It is constructed from rubble of pebble and ironstone with dressings of freestone and clunch, and has lead roofs.

The four-stage west tower has angle buttresses, a moulded plinth, and an embattled parapet. A 15th-century doorway is located on the west side, alongside a loop-light at the third stage and a pair of two-light belfry windows with quatrefoils in four-centred arches. A small lead-covered spirelet tops the tower. The clerestory is embattled with four restored windows, each with three trefoiled lights. A turret to the rood loft stair rises above the parapet to the northeast. The north aisle features three windows, partially restored, each with three cinquefoiled lights and diagonal buttresses. The north porch has a two-centred outer arch within a square with traceried spandrils. The vestry and organ chamber are situated in the angle formed by the north aisle and the chancel. The chancel north window has three lights, and the east window is partly restored with five cinquefoil lights.

Inside, the chancel arch is two-centred with two moulded orders, the inner order springing from attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The nave arcades comprise four bays, with arches and piers similar in detail to the chancel arch, having 19th-century labels on the nave side. The rood-loft staircase has a lower doorway with chamfered jambs and an upper doorway with splayed jambs and four-centred heads. The tower arch is two-centred, with two moulded orders, and was altered in the 15th century. The roofs of the chancel, nave, and aisles date to the 15th century, with 17th-century repairs. The nave and south aisle tie beams bear inscriptions of church wardens, one dated 1675. The roofs are flat-pitched, with moulded main timbers, cambered tie beams with curved braces forming four-centred arches, carved stops and bosses at intersections, and carved figures in the nave and aisles. Wall posts in the chancel stand on octagonal stone corbels terminating in rosettes. A 15th-century screen remains. The late 15th or early 16th-century seating includes panelled bench ends, moulded rails, backs of five seats, and five front desks carved with spandrils of foliage, fishes, birds, animals, and grotesque faces. A 17th-century pulpit stands on a modern base. Fragments of 15th and 16th-century glass are found in the south window of the chancel. A very fine piscina has an ogee arch and crocketed label, with a 15th-century, plain octagonal bowl on a modern base. Other items include a brass indent to Thomas de Neusum (1301-1328) and a wall monument to Barnabas Oley, Vicar, d.1685, as well as a tomb of Sarah, wife of Simon Mason, 1664. The church clock, dating to approximately 1480, gained chimes in 1683.