Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary

A church of Early 14th-century and 15th-century date with additions and alterations dating to around 1883. The building is constructed of flint rubble with ashlar dressings and has a slate and plaintile roof. The plan comprises a nave, chancel, south-western porch-tower, and north-eastern organ chamber.

The porch-tower's south face features diagonal buttresses that die back into the corners in four offsets. A central porch arch has triple chamfering to the sides, with the inner two chamfers developing into ogee and cavetto moulds. An ashlar band sits below the first-stage window, which is rectangular with a double-chamfered ashlar surround. A further band marks the sill level of the belfry opening, which has two lights with cinquefoil heads and Perpendicular tracery above. A string course with a central gargoyle sits below the battlemented parapet, which has ashlar coping. The east face has no doorway but is otherwise similar, with an angle buttress at the right. The west face resembles the east face, with the angle buttress positioned at the left. The north face adjoins the nave at its lower body and features a similar belfry opening.

On the south face of the nave, the porch-tower stands at the left, with a Perpendicular window of two cinquefoil-headed lights with panel tracery to its right—a 19th-century replacement. A buttress to the far right dies back via two offsets. The north face shows three bays with rubble walling and some brick patching above the window heads and lines of tiles. The left-hand window has two lights with Y-tracery. The other two windows are 19th-century replacements in early Perpendicular form, each with three lights, cinquefoil and ogee heads, and panel tracery. Projecting buttresses with two offsets and ashlar dressings stand between the bays and at the left; the left-hand buttress has white brick dressings. A diagonal buttress occupies the right-hand corner. The slate roof has decorative ridge tiles. The west face has diagonal buttresses that die into the corner via two offsets, with a central three-light Perpendicular window featuring cinquefoil heads and panel tracery.

The chancel was rebuilt around 1883. Its south face has two bays, each with a two-light window with cinquefoil ogee heads and quatrefoils to the apexes. A priest's door between these has a pointed arched head and ovolo-moulded surround. The north face is masked at the right by the organ chamber, a lean-to temporary structure. To the left of this is a two-light window matching those on the south face. The east face has a central three-light Decorated window with cinquefoil heads and daggers flanking three encircled quatrefoils.

Interior

The porch doorway has double chamfering, with the inner arches developing ogee and cavetto moulds. The nave roof comprises eight bays of hammerbeam construction. The wall posts terminate in shields showing the emblems of the Passion and are linked to the hammerbeams by arched braces with carved spandrels. Lengthy arched braces connect the hammerbeams and collars to the lower side of the collar beams, from which spring king posts rising to the ridge beam. Angels bearing shields ornament the ends of the hammerbeams; most are 19th-century works imitating two that appear to be of 17th-century date. Two sets of heavily moulded purlins and a richly moulded cornice with bead and billet moulding are present. The undersides of the arched braces, principals, collars, and hammerbeams are also richly moulded. The chancel arch has semi-octagonal columns resting on richly moulded, vigorously carved 19th-century corbels. The 19th-century chancel roof is of similar hammerbeam construction to the nave roof.

The octagonal font has an octagonal stem and step, with two quatrefoils to each face of the riser. The bowl has quatrefoil panels, each with a central shield.