Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church dating back to around 1320, with a substantial restoration carried out in 1866 by Slater & Carpenter. The church's layout is cruciform, featuring a central tower and aisles. The north transept and nave were largely rebuilt in 1866, alongside the construction of a north vestry (designed to appear as a smaller transept from the chancel), an organ aisle, a north porch, and an extension to the nave by one bay to accommodate the font. The church is rendered with flint walls for the 1866 work, stone dressings, and a tiled roof. Most windows feature coupled lights with cusped heads, ornamented with flamboyant roundels or ogee-shaped trefoils (replicated in the nave), a three-light east window, and a circular window in the west gable. The tower has a stone parapet with a coved base decorated with heads, and small coupled lights to the bell stage, with diagonal buttresses to the east wall. Inside, prominent pointed and chamfered arches define the crossing. The nave and transepts have a plain appearance, reflecting the 1866 restoration, while the chancel is distinguished by its traceried windows, a piscina, stepped sedilia comprised of three ogee arches, and a floor covered by tomb slabs, including a group of five finely-lettered slabs from the late 17th and early 18th centuries in the sanctuary. Several wall monuments are located in the chancel, including slate slabs dated 1653 and 1636, and larger classical monuments from 1723, 1753, and 1779. A classical monument of 1807 is in the north transept. The font, of an elaborate 'Perpendicular' design, dates to 1865 and has a wood cover. A significant artifact is a 14th-century alabaster carving of St John's Head, found at nearby East Cholderton, and displayed in a glazed frame. The carving is ornamented with a canopy and head, flanked by small figures of St. Margaret, St. Katherine, St. Peter, and St. William of York, with a Resurrection scene at the base.