Church Of St Maragret

The Church of St. Margaret is a parish church with a history spanning several centuries. The earliest part of the building is the south wall of the nave, dating to the 12th century. The majority of the visible structure consists of 19th-century restorations, including the north aisle, a north chapel, a south porch, and a bell turret. The church is constructed of freestone and septaria rubble walls with limestone dressings and brick buttresses. It has red plain tiled roofs, with hanging tiles and vertical boarding at the base of the shingle bell turret spire.

The south wall features three two-light windows with two-centred arched heads. To the east is a restored 15th-century single-light window with a cusped head, set within a square head. A gabled, enclosed south porch has leaded ogee side windows and double part-glazed doors. A chamfered segmental pointed doorway leads to the porch, and a six-panelled door provides access. The west wall has buttresses marking the angles and the junction with the north aisle. An upper two-light trefoiled window, with a brick arch, sits above a lower two-centred arched two-light window. A trefoiled pointed arch window, also with a brick arch, illuminates the north aisle. The north wall is defined by two gables, each containing a three-light window with tracery. Three buttresses are also present. A gabled north chapel has a crenellated, flat-roofed north extension, mirroring the style of the north aisle. The chapel includes a band under the extension’s crenellations and features three single-light windows with two-centred arched heads on its north wall. A doorway with a segmental head, a matching single-light window, and a single trefoiled two-centred arched window are positioned on the west and east walls. A single trefoiled two-centred arched window is found on the east wall of the north chapel. Stone quoins are present on the chancel’s east wall where a 19th-century three-light window with tracery is set within a two-centred arched head with a moulded label.

Inside, the nave and chancel have a 19th-century ceiled vaulted roof with moulded and crenellated wall plates. The lean-to roof of the north aisle carries similar features. There is no chancel arch. A moulded rood beam is supported by stone corbels, which also support the moulded wall posts. A wooden rood is also present. C19 iron supports are used for the circular timber altar rail. Late 19th century stained glass is found in most of the windows. The sanctuary flooring is of coloured tiles, while the rest of the church has wood block floors. Stone corbels support the arched braces to the moulded and crenellated belfry beam. A 19th-century polygonal, carved wooden pulpit incorporates some earlier panels. The north arcade consists of four bays with varying chamfered two-centred arches on octagonal columns. A 17th-century round-headed arch to the rear of the south doorway and a 12th-century round-headed arch and splay to the window west of the south door are the only surviving remnants of the original medieval church. A monument slab rests against the north vestry wall, commemorating Nathaniel Smith M.A. 1693. Other wall monuments honour the Rev. Nicholas Griffen Hoofe M.A. 1789, James Wright 1795, and Edward Codd 1786. The font features a stucco circular bowl with an iron band, an octagonal moulded brick base, and a moulded brick stem with ogee arches to the panels. A bell from Hazeleigh Old Church, cast by Thos. Means of London in 1793, hangs in the bell tower. A brass, said to depict Dorothy, Daughter of Giles Alleine (1584), is located in the chancel – only the shield-of-arms remains.