Church Of St George

Church of St George

Parish church of 14th-century origin, largely refenestrated in the 15th century and restored in 1900. The building is constructed of flint rubble with some larger stones, particularly in the tower, and has ashlar dressings with some knapped flint. Much of the exterior is cement rendered. The roof structure comprises leaded nave and porch roofs with steep pitch, and a machine tiled chancel roof. The plan consists of a short nave, narrower chancel, west tower, and south porch.

The three-stage square west tower is the dominant feature. Its lower stage has a two-light window to the west with trefoiled ogee-headed lights and a square head with hoodmould. The second stage contains quatrefoil openings. A string course leads to the belfry stage, which has tall two-light openings to the south and west similar to the lower stage but without hoodmoulds, and ogee vesica openings to the north and east. The tower is topped with a cornice featuring gargoyles and an embattled parapet with restored chequerwork. Three-stage diagonal buttresses flank the west face, while straight buttresses rise on the east. A double plinth with chequerwork runs at the base.

The south side of the nave features a 14th-century pointed entrance arch to the west of centre, decorated with complex double moulding and a mask-stopped hoodmould. Large two-light Perpendicular windows flank this doorway, with segmental pointed arched heads and hoodmoulds, supported by two-stage buttresses. The north side has similar windows and four-stage buttresses. A blocked north entrance opposite the south door retains a pointed arch with double hollow moulding and hoodmould. The nave's east end has a shallow coped gable parapet with a ridge cross. A 15th-century clerestorey with four two-light windows runs along the nave; these have cusped ogee lights and traceried segmental pointed arched heads with hoodmoulds. Their spacing is unrelated to the bays below, suggesting they may have been intended for aisles that were never built, or simply to provide better light.

The restored late 14th-century timber south porch is set off centre to the south entrance. Its outer arch is pointed with double wave moulding, and it has renewed timber panelling and a gable with 19th-century traceried bargeboards and a ridge cross. The porch interior contains a two-bay crown post roof with moulded arched braces to cambered tie beams. Short octagonal crown posts with moulded caps and bases support large four-way arched bracing.

The chancel's east end has a restored 14th-century pointed arched three-light window with trefoiled ogee-headed lights and transitional curvilinear and rectilinear tracery. Two-stage diagonal buttresses with chequerwork in the plinth and a ridge cross flank the window. The south side of the chancel features a pointed arched low side door towards the west with wave and hollow mouldings and a hoodmould. Two-light Perpendicular windows with segmental pointed arched heads and two-stage buttresses appear on both south and north sides of the chancel.

The interior contains significant medieval and post-medieval features. A 14th-century pointed chancel arch has inner hollow and outer quirked wave mouldings, with responds featuring engaged shafts, moulded ring capitals ornamented with Tudor flowers and roses, and moulded bases. A restored low tower arch employs knapped flint and ashlar quoining.

The restored 15th-century nave roof is an eight-bay structure of alternating single hammerbeam and arch-braced collar trusses. Moulded arched braces extend from hammer posts to short brattished hammer beams, while moulded arched braces connect to high cambered collars topped with kingposts and moulded ridge pieces. Moulded butt purlins and principals support the ashlaring, which is concealed by double brattished and moulded panels. A notable feature is a pulley block suspended from the centre of one collar, used for raising and lowering the 'Rowell' or circle of lights that formerly hung before the rood. The chancel roof is ceiled. Nave windows have moulded rear arches.

A rood stair opening in the north-east of the nave retains its four-centred arched head. A 14th-century piscina in the south of the chancel has a cusped ogee head.

A richly carved late 14th-century chancel screen dado has been reset in position. Its panels are cusped and ogee-headed with rectilinear traceried heads, depicting scenes including St Gabriel, the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Visit of the Magi, St Gregory's Mass, and the Visitation, with a quatrefoil frieze below. The south section is missing and has been replaced with early 17th-century panelling with acanthus and guilloche ornament in the upper section.

An early 15th-century octagonal font on steps has a cusped traceried stem with Tudor flowers on the underside of the bowl. The bowl features four quatrefoil traceried faces with Tudor flowers and four cusped circle faces with shields of arms, topped by a Tudor flower cornice. The mid-17th-century open font cover has a moulded base, a central turned post with finial, and eight curved side pieces with holes for lifting ropes.

Fifteenth and 16th-century benches with poppyhead ends are located towards the west end of the nave, with several later 17th-century examples featuring rounded poppyheads. One bench end bears a scrolled lozenge head inscribed '1616 TH.WM'. Early 19th-century panels from box pews have been reset along the walls towards the east end.

An early 16th-century semi-octagonal pulpit features linenfold panelling. Early to mid-17th-century turned communion rails in five sections with capped standards are present. A medieval iron-bound chest with a rounded head, restored sides, and triple locks survives.

The chancel walls bear simple late 18th, 19th, and early 20th-century marble tablets, including memorials to members of the Steggall Family with Latin inscriptions. Royal Arms of William and Mary in carved elm and of George III in painted panel dated 1812 are positioned in the nave. Fragments of early glass appear in the nave north windows, including a head of Jesus in the north-west window, while the east window is of 19th-century date.