Parish Church Of St Mary The Virgin

This is a parish church of early 11th-century origin with significant later additions, built of flint and pebble rubble with limestone and clunch dressings. The porch is of red brick, and the roofs are laid with handmade red clay tiles. The church comprises a nave of early 11th-century date, a 12th-century chancel, a 14th-century west tower, and an early 16th-century south porch. All elements have been well restored in the 19th century.

Chancel

The eastern angles of the chancel feature half-round shafts with helical fluting and raised dots, topped with plain cushion capitals. The east wall contains three lancet windows of around 1200 with chamfered jambs and heads. The north wall has two small 12th-century windows with chamfered jambs and semi-circular heads. The south wall displays two large lancet windows of early 13th-century date, chamfered and rebated on the outside and restored. The eastern window sits higher in the wall than the other. Below it is an early 16th-century doorway with a square head, moulded wooden frame, and plain boarded door, now blocked internally.

Internally, the walls are plastered except over the rear arch of the south-west window, and the roof is also plastered. At the west end stands a single cambered tiebeam, moulded and crenellated, dating to the 16th century. There is no chancel arch.

Nave

The nave has two windows in its north wall: the eastern is 15th-century with two cinquefoiled lights under a square head with double-convex moulded splays and a segmental-pointed rear arch; the western is 16th-century with two plain lights under a square outer order of brick externally. Between them is an 11th-century doorway, only 710mm wide and now blocked. It appears to be unrebated, with jambs featuring wide-jointed quoins. The stone lintel is segmental at the top, forming a square head, decorated with incised horizontal and vertical lines. The internal wooden lintel bears similar ornament on the soffit.

The south wall contains two 15th-century windows, each with two cinquefoiled lights. The eastern window has a square head and moulded label; the western originally had tracery in a two-centred head, but the upper part was altered to a segmental head when the roof was rebuilt around 1500. Between these windows is the south doorway of early 11th-century date, with plain jambs, a semi-circular tympanum forming the lintel, and grotesque head corbels (the western one restored). The tympanum displays an irregular design of low-relief carvings comprising two square interlacing patterns of different sizes, a band of interlacing arches, and a band of half-flowers. An outer doorway of 12th-century date is asymmetrically superimposed, featuring nook-shafts and scalloped capitals; the eastern shaft carries chevron ornament while the western shaft is missing. The arch is semi-circular with deeply incised chevron ornament.

Immediately east of this doorway is a plain 16th-century stoup with Tudor arch, chamfered jambs, and cylindrical well, though the projecting part is broken off. The west end of the nave is strengthened with diagonal buttresses of 14th-century date.

The roof spans five bays and is of double hammerbeam construction with simple pierced tracery in the spandrels and carved pendants at the centre of each truss, dating to around 1500. The wallplates are carved with running foliage.

Tower

The square west tower is 14th-century, constructed in three stages with diagonal buttresses and a low-pitched pyramidal roof with projecting eaves, probably original. Stone weatherings on the east face indicate an earlier, higher and steeper nave roof. The east doorway has jambs and a two-centred arch of two orders, now defaced, with graffiti reading "IM 1716". The west window of the ground stage is a single pointed light, defaced. At the second stage are south and west windows, each a single pointed light with chamfered four-centred rear arch. The bell chamber contains windows in each wall, originally of two trefoiled lights in a square head but much altered, with 16th-century brick jambs. The bell cage is ancient and possibly original, featuring curved saltire bracing on the east and curved tension bracing elsewhere.

Porch

The south porch is constructed of red brick in English bond and dates to the early 16th century. It features a plain two-light window in each side wall and a four-centred archway of two continuously chamfered orders, restored. The gable is crow-stepped with a terracotta sundial. The plank benches of the porch appear to be original.

Bells and Internal Fittings

There are three bells: the first is 15th-century, inscribed "Sancte Gabriel" and possibly by John Sturdy; the second was cast by Miles Graye in 1617; the third by Miles Graye in 1661.

Two reversed shields of heraldic glass in the south-east window of the nave, dating to the late 15th century, represent Harsicke and Doreward. In the porch are floor slabs to Radclyffe Hall (1675) and to Martha (wife of Radclyffe Todd) and Thomas Ferrand (1679), defaced. The chancel contains floor slabs to Thomas Ferrand (1680) and Thomas Ferrand (1712). On the south wall of the nave is a tablet with shield of arms to Sarah Eliza Massingberd Todd (1794) and her husband Radcliffe Pearl Todd (1813). The north wall carries painted arms of George II on canvas.

This is a good example of a simple parish church of early date, well maintained, with its character unaffected by elaborate fittings or monuments.