Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church dating back to the 14th century, with later additions. It is constructed of flint and stone with lead and copper roofs. The church comprises a west tower, nave, south porch, north and south aisles, and a chancel.

The embattled west tower is four stages high and from the 14th century. It has a stone frieze with curved, cusped relief to the plinth. The west door has continuous moulding, a grape vine trail to the hood-mould, and a 3-light west window with panel tracery. Single-light cusped openings are present in the ringing chambers, and the bell openings are two-light with panel tracery. Gargoyles adorn the corners.

The 14th-century nave is buttressed, with five bays. It contains 3-light north and south aisle windows with mouchettes. A north aisle door in the first bay has continuous moulding and a hood mould with rosettes. An external rood stair is located in the angle between the chancel and north aisle, built of brick and flint with a quatrefoil light. The aisles have copper roofs, and a blind clerestory of intersecting cusped arcade in flushwork is visible on the south side; a blind cusped arcade is on the north side.

The chancel, of three bays, has a band at sill level. A doorway in the centre of the south bay is situated beneath a window. Perpendicular windows of three lights with panel tracery are present. The north-east chancel window is blocked, and a 19th-century east window of three lights is in place. The south porch was rebuilt in 1864. The door to the nave features exuberant medieval ironwork, including a door-ring with trail and trefoil leaves.

Inside, the north and south arcades are composed of clustered shafts with fillets in the diagonals, and feature figure stops to the hood moulds. Brackets in the spandrels of the south arcade have heads carved on the base, while those on the north side are crenellated with niches revealed during a restoration in the 1950s. The roof is arch-braced with simple ashlaring, and two tie beams from 1683 retain traces of paint. Stone benches line the aisle walls. Cusped piscinae are located in the north and south aisles, and the aisle roofs have roll-moulding, having been restored. The tower arch has clustered shafts with castellated abaci, and the chancel arch features similar clustered shafts. A piscina and a three-bay sedilia are present, with cusped ogee arches and ribbed vaulting. A raised platform is at the east end, accessed by steps to the north; a doorway to the south leads to a tunnel-vaulted chamber beneath, lit by an opening behind the altar. The tunnel vault contains remains of niches with paint to the west face, possibly of a reredos; niches with remains of vaulting are also present to either side of the east window, with some paint. The arch-braced roof incorporates tracery in the spandrels. A poppy-head remains on a bench in the chancel. A 15th-century rood screen with painted figures in the lower panels and a platform on top is present. The rood beam is not in its original position.