Church Of St Mary

The Church of St. Mary is a parish church largely dating to the 11th and 14th centuries, with substantial restoration work carried out in 1881. It is constructed of uncoursed flint with stone dressings, and has a slate roof. The church comprises a central tower, a nave, a south aisle and porch, and a ruined south chapel; the chancel has been lost.

The three-stage square tower incorporates Sandringham sandstone, carstone, Roman tiles, and other assorted stone. It has a steeply pitched roof line to the east and south, an inserted three-light east window with intersecting tracery and plain leaded lights, and a small lancet inserted to the north face in 1901. The second stage features a flush carstone arcade of three semi-circular headed blank arches on each face; below this arcade, on the south side, is a narrow semi-circular headed window with carstone dressings, situated within the gable of the former roof. The recessed 14th-century bell stage has a stone embattled parapet with a string course below and two gargoyles to the east, with one on each of the north and south sides. Two-light bell openings with reticulated tracery are also present.

The nave has a hollow chamfered stone cornice, and stone kneelers to the west include three pomegranates. A clerestory to the south features four double lancets dating to 1881. The south aisle has a west kneeler matching that of the nave, a three-light west window of 1881, and three Y-tracery openings of 1881 with buttresses between. The south porch has diagonal buttresses and kneelers similar to the nave; the archway is adorned with slender shafts and moulded capitals, with a small trefoil headed niche above. Returns to the porch feature double trefoil headed ogee lights under a square head. The roof of the porch is from 1881. It retains head corbels at the corners for the former roof structure. The porch includes shelly limestone benches and a renewed south doorway with a plain chamfered arch and hood mould.

The north nave incorporates some Sandringham sandstone, features two stepped buttresses, a doorway mirroring the south side, and three windows of 1881 within larger blocked openings. The central window is similar to that on the west of the south aisle, while the side windows are of three lights with intersecting tracery. The west facade has a stone plinth, incorporates Sandringham sandstone and carstone at the base, and features a four-light west window of 1881 with intersecting tracery, and two semi-circular headed lancets in the gable.

A ruined, roofless Early 14th-century chapel stands to the south of the tower. It has slender Y tracery to the south and a scratch dial in the left jamb. Wide diagonal buttresses are also present.

Inside, the church has a four-bay arcade to the south with double chamfered arches and piers of clustered polygonal shafts, and a waggon roof of 1881 with bosses. The central tower serves as the chancel, containing a 11th-century semi-circular arch to the chancel with carstone dressings and imposts (renewed in stone). A wide piscina to the north has a semi-circular arch with roll moulding. Remains of a blocked semi-circular arch to the south have an inserted door leading to a 19th-century vestry. An octagonal black marble font in an Early English style, dating to approximately 1880 and originally from the church of St. Mary Magdalene, Sandringham, is also present. The font has stiff-leaf bases to the cusps of the arcade arches around the lower bowl and a polygonal 19th-century font cover with crockets.