Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church largely of medieval origin, with the nave and tower probably dating to the late 14th century. It was restored in 1886-8. The church consists of a nave, chancel, west tower, and a north porch (now used as a vestry. Constructed of random flint rubble with stone dressings, the chancel is plastered, and the nave has a lead roof while the chancel has a felted roof.

The square west tower features a flat stone parapet and four-stage buttresses, displaying chequered flushwork to the plinth and buttresses. The west face has a finely moulded doorway, a two-light window, and a large niche designed to hold three images, featuring a cusped arch, gable, finial, and buttress shafts. There are cinquefoil-headed bell chamber openings, except on the west face which has a two-light square-headed opening.

The three-bay nave has a flat parapet and buttresses with flushwork. The south side of the nave contains tall, two-light windows without tracery likely dating to the 19th century. The north side has two good 15th-century windows and one further 19th-century window. A good 15th-century porch features a facade and crenellated parapet with panel led flushwork, an enriched plinth, carved spandrels to the doorway, a niche above the entrance, and the original door to the nave.

The 15th-century two-bay chancel has two-light windows and a three-light east window. A priest’s doorway is located on the north side, bearing the Ufford arms above. The nave has a five-bay roof with wall posts resting on 14th-century carved corbels; the chancel has a three-bay roof. Both roofs largely date to the 19th century.

An early 15th-century octagonal font is carved with traceried panels and shields of the Ufford and Willoughby families. The nave includes a cinquefoil-headed piscina (on the south wall), rood loft stairs (on the north wall), and two pointed niches either side of the chancel arch. There are late 19th-century poppyhead benches. A 15th-century painted wooden rood screen is present as well as two 15th-century benches in the chancel. A mid-17th-century altar rail is attached to a poor box by a chain. The south sanctuary has a piscina and a drop-seat sedilia, while the north sanctuary houses 12 stone heraldic shields representing local families, likely relocated from a monument. A reredos with a painted panel and re-used 17th-century woodwork is also present. Two hatchments are in the chancel. The Royal Arms of Charles II are displayed above the north nave door. Several 17th-19th-century ledger slabs are found in the chancel. The east window contains fragments of 15th-century glass. The building is Grade I listed for its surviving medieval fabric, particularly the tower and porch.