Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church dating back to the 12th century, with significant additions from the 13th and 15th centuries. It is constructed of flint with limestone and brick dressings, with some old conglomerate quoins at the southwest corner of the nave. The steeply pitched roof is covered with plain tiles on the south side and 20th-century concrete tiles on the north. The church comprises a west tower, a south porch, a nave, and a chancel.

The 15th-century west tower features staged diagonal buttresses on its west face, two repaired brick-surrounded bell openings, and a blocked two-light window with a hollow chamfered mullion below the western bell opening. A 3-light west window was restored in the 19th century. A semi-circular niche is located below the bell opening on the south side, topped with a later embattled parapet with red brick dressings. A stair turret is situated at the north-east corner. The south porch has a brick and flint parapeted gable and a three-order brick arch, with a niche above the arch. Three restored 2-light windows with square heads are set into the south wall, while the south chancel wall contains a restored single lancet and a priest’s door with a single chamfered arch. Old brown conglomerate quoins are visible between the nave windows. A memorial tablet to Thomas Badley, who died on 7th August 1697, is set in a brick surround on the south wall of the nave. The 19th-century 3-light east window incorporates the remains of an earlier, wider window and a higher cill line; the upper part of the east gable parapet has been rebuilt in brick. A single lancet is located in the north chancel wall. Large brick buttresses and a lean-to boiler chamber with a chimney stack are visible against the north wall. A square-headed north door has wooden lintols and brick jambs. A staged brick buttress stands at the north-west corner of the nave.

The 12th-century south doorway is particularly notable, featuring two main orders of shafts with nook-shafts and an arch of five orders with zig-zag, bobbin, star, and lozenge decoration. A stoup is positioned on the east side of the door in the south wall of the nave. The nave ceiling is plastered with moulded wooden coving, while the chancel ceiling is boarded with roll-moulded ribs. A 17th-century communion rail features turned newels, balusters and a roll-moulded rail. A stained-glass roundel is present in the east window. The plastered nave ceiling obscures a tall tower arch with lion-head corbels, and an embattled tower screen is also in place. The font has an octagonal bowl and base, with a stem featuring corner pilasters and convex panels; the bowl has a lozenge design on each face. The font cover displays simple strapwork and dates to the 17th century.