Church Of St Mary The Virgin

Parish church of 1716, built of brick in Flemish bond with blue headers, and featuring Bath stone dressings under a slate roof. It replaced an earlier church and was funded by Thomas 'Diamond' Pitt, a former governor of Madras and father of the Earl of Chatham. The church is of classical design, displaying symmetrical and regular elevations. It consists of an aisleless nave of four bays, a chancel, a west tower incorporating the entrance, and a small Victorian vestry to the south of the chancel. The walls have weathered coping to the parapet, a moulded cornice, corner pilasters, and moulded plinths. Openings are defined by plain architraves, round-headed windows, and doorways with keystones. The three-stage tower is marked by moulded stone bands; the top stage has a cambered head to the opening, the middle stage an oval window (a clock face is visible on the west) above a window with a cambered head, and the lower stage a recessed brick panel above an opening. The west side has an arched doorway with a moulded impost, plain pilasters, and arched cornice, while the south side features a rectangular projection for the staircase, with a small window above a tiny doorway. In the 19th century, the easternmost windows (in the chancel and two eastern bays of the nave) were filled with traceried coupled lights, and the tower parapet was crenellated with corner Gothic pinnacles.

Inside, the simple classical style is accentuated by oak panelling in the sanctuary, and as a dado to the chancel and nave. Pews include doors and a family pew. The pulpit is panelled octagonal, while the communion rails surround a wood, octagonal font with a baluster form, stoneware bowl, and decorative wooden cover. A gallery occupies the west bay of the nave, featuring a panelled front, two Tuscan columns, and pilasters against the side walls. Two panels bear inscriptions, one relating to a 1728 bequest and the other to the church rebuilding of 1716. Wall monuments from the late 18th and early 19th centuries are also present. Within the tower's porch is a painted Royal Coat of Arms dated 1728. Mid-19th century prescriptions are displayed against the east walls of the nave. A unique feature is the series of Virgins' Crowns hung from the cornice of the coved ceiling of the nave, a continuation of the medieval tradition of maidens' garlands; the oldest surviving garland dates from 1740. The church remains virtually unaltered, retaining its original Georgian character and fittings.