Church Of St Mary

The Church of St. Mary is a parish church with origins dating back to the 12th and 14th centuries, but it was largely rebuilt in the early 15th century by Reverend Thomas Patesley, who died in 1411. In 1798, the west tower collapsed and was reconstructed further east within the nave. The 19th century saw restoration of the chancel and many of the church's windows. The building features coursed limestone, dressed clunch, clunch rubble, flint, and pebblestone, and has a low pitched, embattled roof. Its layout includes a west tower, nave, north and south aisles, and a chancel, with the west tower incorporating older materials. The tower has three stages and an octagonal bell stage topped with a needle spire. The west window, made of clunch, consists of three cinquefoil lights with vertical tracery, and there is a newel staircase in the north-west angle. The clerestorey windows and those of the south aisle were restored in the 19th century using Ketton stone in a perpendicular style. The south porch, dating from the 15th century, features a parish room above, is embattled, and has two-stage diagonal buttressing. An original niche with modern sculpture is located above the restored outer archway. The interior boasts a rib-vaulted ceiling with bosses, including a pelican.

Inside, the nave consists of four bays with two-centred arches of two chamfered orders on octagonal columns, which have typical high bases and moulded capitals. Moulded labels feature mask stops, some depicting angels. The chancel arch, dating from the same period, includes an opening for a rood loft staircase on the north side. The nave roof, from the 15th century, is constructed with alternating tie beams and hammer beams. Above the chancel arch is a 15th-century wall painting of the Doom. In the south aisle, there is a 14th-century piscina with a trefoil arch opening. The pulpit, made of oak, dates from 1636 and retains its original tester and staircase. Early 17th-century wall monuments can be found on the north and south walls of the chancel, along with a brass memorial for Thomas Patesley, who died in 1411, set into the chancel floor.