Christchurch

Christchurch is a parish church built in 1857 by William White. It was damaged by lightning in 1975, which led to restoration that included a new roof. The church is a single cell structure with a half-octagon apse, north and south porches, and a double-bellcote at the west end. Its walls are made of flint with brick dressings, featuring thin horizontal bands, quoins, separate voussoirs for the pointed arches, buttresses, and a plinth. The windows have stone traceries and mullions, with lancets that have sharply-pointed cusping, arranged in 1, 2, and 4 lights, the largest of which has a hood-mould. The roof, installed in 1976, has a low pitch and is made of corrugated metal, although a fragment of the original tile roof remains above the west gable, connected to the bell-turret, which is supported by two tapered buttresses and encloses a coupled west window. The porches are gabled, with buttresses and pointed arches featuring patterned voussoirs. Inside, the rear third retains its original yellow brick walls with red banding and dado, while a 20th-century glazed screen separates this area from the main church, which has plastered walls and late 20th-century furnishings.