Parish Church Of St Mary

The parish church of St Mary is a building of considerable historical significance, dating back to around 1100 with the core of the nave and west tower. A north aisle was added around 1140, followed by the chancel around 1340. A south aisle was constructed in the 14th century, and a south chancel chapel and porch between 1444 and 1455. The clerestory was built approximately in 1478, and further work on the north aisle occurred around 1497. The church is primarily constructed of flint rubble with stone and brick dressings, incorporating some reused Roman brick. The east chancel wall is a mix of chequered stone and knapped flint, while the north wall is plain flint, with brick and stone buttresses elsewhere. The roofs are low-pitched lead, with a steeper, plain tile roof over the chancel. The west tower is a prominent three-stage structure with a straight parapet and a small spike. It features a 15th-century west door and belfry windows. The tower has flat buttresses, with a stepped buttress on the southwest side, and a billet course below the belfry. The south aisle showcases a well-preserved moulded brick eaves corbel table with trefoiled arcading, an early example of its kind. The porch has a moulded stone door arch. The south wall contains two 15th-century three-light windows and a four-centre arched door. The chancel has a three-light east window with cusped net tracery, restored in 1801. The north aisle has two-light windows with hood moulds, and the clerestory windows are also two-light, but with chamfered surrounds.

Inside, the north nave arcade dates to around 1140, featuring three drum piers with scalloped capitals and two-step arches with an outer billet label. The south arcade has octagonal piers and double-chamfer arches, with a similar style arch to the west. The chancel arch has moulded and stepped arches, likely dating before around 1300. A late 15th-century nave roof has short crown posts, while the north aisle boasts a good 15th-century roof with moulded beams, the same style being found in the northeast chapel. A blocked Norman window is visible in the north aisle wall. The chancel’s north wall includes a 14th-century sedilia with ogee arches and 12th-century capitals, and on the south wall is a simple Easter sepulchre. A broad four-centre arch opens to the southeast chapel. A very good rood screen from 1478 is present, featuring pierced and blank traceried panels, two on either side of the central arch, and a cove of open fan tracery. An early 18th-century stone and marble font stands in the west aisle, with a baluster-shaped base and a shell-like bowl. Brass memorials include one to Sir Richard Bede (1560) in the chancel, Richard Peacock (1512) in the south chapel, and a piece dating circa 1470 near the south door. Monuments include a good marble epitaph to Eignon Bignon and his wife (1717), by Thomas Bull, on the north chancel wall, featuring a bust under a draped baldacchino, flanked by fluted pilasters. Four other good late 18th and early 19th-century wall plaques are also in the chancel.