Church Of St Margaret

The Church of St Margaret is a parish church with origins in a Benedictine Priory founded in 1095. The church was largely rebuilt in the 13th century and has undergone continuous alteration since, with the exterior predominantly dating to the 15th century. The central lantern and south-west spire collapsed in 1741, followed by substantial internal rebuilding between 1745 and 1746 by Matthew Brettingham, and a restoration in 1875 by Scott. It is constructed of limestone with lead roofs.

The church comprises twin west towers, a nave, aisles, transepts with a crossing tower, and an aisled chancel. The west front features a central arched door within a crenellated surround, above which is a Perpendicular seven-light window. The south-west tower, begun around 1260, displays bundled buttresses with Norman interlace to the lower stages, transitioning to trefoiled 13th-century arcading, two-light ringing chamber windows, and a 14th-century bar tracery belfry stage. It is topped with a crenellated parapet and pinnacles. The north-west tower incorporates Norman lower courses, rebuilt in 1453, with indeterminate stage divisions, clasping buttresses, and small three-light Perpendicular windows, also with a crenellated parapet. Fragments of a north outer aisle abut remain, lit by a five-light west window. The nave aisles and clerestory, added between 1472 and 1483 (the north aisle by Roger Cony), feature three-light Perpendicular windows with basket arches. Short projecting transepts exhibit traces of Norman work, while the principal windows are large Perpendicular designs. A squat crossing tower, formerly supporting a timber lantern until 1741, sits above the transepts. The north chancel aisle dates to 1394, and the south aisle to 1433, both incorporating three-light windows and basket arches. The chancel clerestory has ten bays with similar fenestration. The east end of the chancel features polygonal tower buttresses gripping the corners, with a rose east window inserted in 1875.

Internally, a six-bay nave arcade is present. The west bay is round-arched on compound piers with scalloped, stiff-leaf, and water-leaf capitals, and undercut arch mouldings. The south-west tower has bundled piers, while the north-west tower displays Perpendicular piers and details. The remaining arcade features quatrefoil piers on Norman bases. The roof is from 1745, with tie beams on arched braces, and stiff-leaf capitals to the crossing arch piers. The chancel clerestory includes a wall passage and remnants of Early English arcading. C14 screens separate the chancel and its aisles, and a C16 screen is found in the north transept. A mid-18th century pulpit and an organ case by Sneltzer from 1754 are also present. The church houses two of the largest brasses in England, both depicting figures in civil dress. One portrays Adam Walsoken and his wife (1349), including a depiction of a post windmill in the lower predella scene (Flemish). The other is of Robert Braunche and his two wives (1364), similarly ornamented and of Flemish design.