Church Of St Michael

The Church of St Michael is a parish church largely dating to the 12th and 13th centuries, with later additions. It comprises a nave, chancel, south porch, and west tower. The construction is of random flint, with freestone quoins and dressings, sections of old render, and pantiled roofs over the nave and chancel, with plaintiles to the porch. Windows feature Y-tracery, notably in the nave and on the south side of the chancel. There is no window on the north side of the chancel, and the east window has intersecting tracery. A pointed priest’s door from the 13th century has continuous moulding. A blocked north doorway is also present. The unbuttressed west tower is of the 13th century, with four stages; a Y-tracery window on the lowest stage, and plain single-light windows on all faces of the top stage, one of which is blocked. A string-course runs between the third and fourth stages, and the tower is finished with a fine, stepped embattled parapet featuring ornate flushwork panels. A timber porch, rendered externally, dates to the early 16th century, with a shallow four-centred arch to the doorway. The interior of the porch features a cambered roll-moulded tie-beam, arched braces with shafts, two blocked windows with moulded jambs, a moulded ridge-piece, purlins, embattled wallplates, and a roof. The Norman south doorway has one order of colonettes, one enriched cushion capital, one volute capital, abaci with nailhead ornament, a roll-moulded arch, and an outer arch of doubled lunettes with a surround of billet moulding. Inside, remnants of an arched-braced timber chancel arch remain. The nave has C19 boarding covering most of the roof. A 15th-century font features an octagonal bowl with panels depicting seated lions alternating with angels bearing shields, a square shaft, and seated lions at the chamfered angles. A Jacobean pulpit and a lectern made from reused panelling are also present. C19 benches are arranged throughout, with the first four pairs being in an earlier style and incorporating reused components, as are the choir stalls in the chancel. A high recess is situated within the south wall of the chancel, alongside a piscina in the south-east corner, both featuring continuous moulding round pointed arches. The roof is of four-bay arched brace and tie-beam construction; the tie-beams have been removed, braces have been cut back, and a boarded ceiling was added in the 19th century. Old brick floors cover the nave and chancel. A sundial is set into the south wall of the nave with the inscriptions 'Why stand gazing' and 'Go about your business' above the dial, and 'I only tell the sunlit hours' below.