Church Of St Martin

The Church of St Martin is a parish church comprising a west tower, nave, chancel, a north vestry, and a south porch. The building dates to the 14th century, with some 16th and 19th-century work. The walls are constructed from flint rubble, clunch, and Roman brick, with a plain red tile roof.

The west tower, restored in the 19th century, incorporates 16th-century and some 14th-century fabric. It’s 12 feet by 11 1/2 feet and consists of three successively diminished stages with diagonal buttresses, a splayed plinth, and a crenellated parapet. A 19th-century window is positioned on the west face. The second stage features square-headed, two-light windows with trefoiled heads to the south and west, with restored windows to each wall of the bell chamber. Small rectangular windows are found within the bell chamber stairs. The tower arch and the stair doorway are both two-centred.

The nave, measuring 43 feet by 25 feet, has angled quoins of Roman brick and stone. Two north wall windows, the eastern being 14th century and the western 11th century, are present. Below the 11th-century window is a blocked doorway with a semi-circular head, plain jamb, and chamfered imposts, with a plastered tympanum resting on an oak lintel. Recessed stone stairs for the former rood loft are found to the east. Four south wall windows are present; the eastern and western are 19th-century with 14th-century features. The centre two are 11th-century round-headed designs with external arches of Roman brick, with some jamb stones showing evidence of former bar piercings. A South doorway, mirroring the North doorway, is positioned below the third window. The Early English door consists of four planks, with iron strips covering the joints and ironwork of the same date. The nave roof is late 13th century, featuring a trait-de-jupiter scarf, scissored couples (some later replaced with double collars), double wall plates, and four braced crown posts – two supporting the centre purlin and two supporting the tie beam. A piscina is set within the south wall, featuring a cinquefoil drain and square head.

The chancel, 21 feet square, has 13th/14th-century fabric restored or renewed in the 19th century. It has a 19th-century south door and a 11th-century chancel arch with a semi-circular head. The chancel roof features an octagonal crown post with a moulded base and capital and a moulded tie beam supported by stone corbels carved with grotesque figures. The piscina has a sexfoil drain under a cinquefoil ogee arch. A recessed trefoil arch with a moulded jamb is located in the west wall south of the Chancel arch. The square Norman font is made from Purbeck Marble, moulded and carved with a rough zig-zag pattern. Its top is incised with concentric circles in the spandrels, and it sits on a circular stem with a square, chamfered base.

The timber-framed south porch dates to the 14th century, rebuilt in the 16th century, and features a two-centred arch. Open sides include turned balusters. Cusped bargeboards are present on the gable.