Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church dating from the medieval period. It comprises a nave, chancel, south aisle, west tower, south porch, and north vestry. The exterior is constructed of flint rubble with stone dressings, and has leaded roofs. A particularly fine 15th-century square tower rises in three stages and is topped with a crenellated parapet. The tower’s plinth, buttresses, and parapet are embellished with flushwork. A moulded west doorway is adorned with shield-carved spandrels, surmounted by a frieze of flushwork and a three-light window flanked by empty canopied niches. There are two-light belfry openings. The 15th-century nave features four bays and three-light windows. A blocked, moulded north doorway is present. The clerestory, also dating to the 15th century, is faced with knapped flint and incorporates flushwork panelling between the windows. The south aisle, of 15th-century origin, also has three-light windows, mostly renewed. A moulded doorway with shield-carved spandrels leads to an original door. A fine 15th-century porch of knapped flint has a panelled stone facade; its entrance arch is almost semi-circular and carved with various motifs, complete with an enriched hoodmould and shield-carved spandrels. Above the arch is a row of nine canopied niches with image stools, the central niche being larger. The parapet is adorned with cresting, and each buttress also contains a niche. The 15th-century chancel has two bays with two-light side windows and a three-light east window, and includes a moulded Priest’s doorway. The interior features a three-bay aisle arcade and benefits from good original arched-braced roofs in the nave and chancel. The nave roof has fleuron bosses at the main intersections, and the wall posts rest on stone corbels carved as heads. The original lean-to aisle roof retains some medieval colouring in the eastern bays—the angels at the foot of each wall post were added in the 20th century. Simple piscinas are found in the chancel and aisle. A 15th-century octagonal font has a bowl with panels carved with angels and figures of the Apostles, all under canopies, with further canopied figures around the stem. A fine early 17th-century pulpit includes a backboard and tester, all richly carved. The nave contains a set of 27 poppyhead bench-ends of 15th-century date, most with double arm-rests and mutilated carved figures. Other benches and chancel stalls are of 19th-century date, matching the earlier style. A medieval painting of St. Christopher is visible on the north nave wall. Monuments to the Green family are located at the west end of the aisle, including a tomb chest with ledger slabs to George Green (1739), Jane Green (1744), and Thomas Green (1730); a good wall monument with a medallion portrait of George Green held by two putti, set against a background of draped cloth, and displaying a coat of arms above; and a 19th-century cartouche to other family members.