Church of St Mary

The Church of St Mary, originally part of a Benedictine priory and now the parish church, dates to the 12th century, with alterations in the 15th century and a restoration in 1852 by Hakewill. The building is constructed of flint, chalk, Caen stone, and tile, with a coped gabled roof. It comprises a continuous nave and chancel, and a timber bell turret at the west end.

The north side of the nave features four round-headed 12th-century windows, three original with splayed inner jambs, and one from the 19th century. A blocked round-headed doorway, of two square orders with quirked chamfered abaci, is located between the second and third windows. The south side of the nave has six round-headed 12th-century windows, with a mostly 19th-century round-headed doorway below the third window. The west end showcases a restored 12th-century round-headed doorway with an outer order of elaborate chevron enrichment, shafted jambs with scalloped capitals and quirked chamfered abaci, and a 19th-century hood mould. Above the doorway is a 19th-century round-headed window set within 12th-century jambs. A wooden bell turret with louvred sides, a tile hipped roof, and a cross surmounts the apex of the gable. Large clasping buttresses project from each corner.

The chancel’s north side has three 12th-century round-headed windows with original splayed inner jambs; the easternmost is blocked by the adjoining Cloisters. The east side has two round-headed windows with a small circular window above, all possibly 12th-century but with 19th-century external stonework. The south side includes three windows, the two easternmost resembling those on the north wall, and a third early 14th-century window with two trefoiled ogee lights, reticulated tracery, and a pointed head. Below this window is a small ogee-headed recess with sunk spandrels and moulded jambs, with a 19th-century priest’s doorway to the right.

Inside, a fine early 15th-century octagonal font tapers towards the bottom and features sides of traceried panelling with small buttresses at the angles. A 17th-century monument to John Lovelace of Ladye Place, and his wife, located against the north wall of the chancel, comprises a large strapwork panel (formerly containing an inscription), flanked by detached Ionic columns supporting an entablature and a second stage divided into three panels by small Doric columns. Two male figures in Elizabethan costume stand at the base.