Church of St. Mary

The Church of St. Mary is a parish church incorporating medieval and later elements, situated in Roughton. It is constructed primarily of quaternary flint, with iron-bound conglomerate and brick, featuring dressings of Lincolnshire limestone. The roofs are slate, tile, and lead. The church’s fabric dates back to the 11th century, encompassing a tower, nave, north and south aisles, north and south porches, and a chancel.

The embattled round tower displays conglomerate laid in a herringbone pattern to its lower portion, with basket windows on the south and north sides. A single cusped light with a hood mould defines the west window, while slit lights to the ringing chamber have conglomerate reveals. Above this, paired triangular-headed lights illuminate the bell openings, with post-medieval brick establishing the battlements. Quadrant buttresses connect the tower to the nave.

Conglomerate quoins mark the lower corners of the northwest and southwest corners of the nave. Restored western aisle windows feature two ogee-headed lights with a quatrefoil in the head, framed by a four-centred arch and a hood mould. The four-bay nave is flanked by buttressed north and south aisles. Each aisle contains three restored three-light, square-headed windows; the outer lights are adorned with cusped ogee heads. The north porch, buttressed and aligned with the first nave bay, has paired shafts with polygonal capitals and bases, alongside a continuous roll and fillet moulding. A restored two-light window faces west on the porch, while an east-facing window features two ogee lights with a quatrefoil. The north and south clerestories showcase four windows, each composed of two cusped lights set within alternating brick and flint voussoirs, terminating in a sexfoil. A 19th-century east window graces the south aisle, while the north aisle’s east window exhibits a Perpendicular style of three lights, capped with a hood mould.

The chancel is buttressed across two bays. A pair of restored windows to the south feature two cusped ogee-headed lights, while a restored north window presents cusped Y-tracery. Two blind pointed arches are visible without ashlar dressing or a central support, alongside a rectangular niche within the walling. The east window, reticulated in design, has been restored and has three lights. The south porch, buttressed with knapped flint panels in stone surrounds that include ogee heads and finials, fronts the first nave bay. Restored two-light east and west windows feature cusped ogee heads beneath square hood moulds. A restored and re-set archway incorporates shafts with polygonal capitals and bases, along with an arch displaying continuous inner and outer chamfered orders. A 19th-century nave doorway is also present. Nave arcades exhibit octagonal shafts, and the arches are defined by two chamfered orders. A piscina is located in the south aisle. The roofs are of 19th-century construction. Rere-arches to the clerestory windows display shafts with a fillet, polygonal bases and capitals, the bases resting on projecting beast heads. A crude tower arch and a chancel arch, featuring continuous inner and outer chamfered orders and a hood mould, are also noteworthy. A blocked south door in the chancel retains some conglomerate dressings and a four-centred arch, while a blocked doorway with a continuous chamfer exists to the north. Traces of a piscina are apparent within the chancel. The 14th-century octagonal font has attached shafts, and its bowl displays paired panels with cusped ogee heads.