Church Of St Swithin

The Church of St Swithin is a parish church dating back to the early 11th century, with substantial alterations and additions throughout the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. It was restored around 1865-6 by G. E. Street. The church is constructed of rubble flint with stone dressings, partially rendered, and has an old plain tile roof.

Originally a Saxon church consisting of a chancel and nave, it gained a large sculpted rood on its outer west wall. A 13th-century tower was added to the southwest. Repairs were undertaken in the 13th and 14th centuries, and a western annexe was built in the 15th century (though some believe it to be of 11th-century origin). A 19th-century south porch and a north chancel wall were also added.

The chancel features a plinth, long and short quoins, and a lesene on the south side. It contains an 19th-century three-light trefoiled perpendicular east window, a high-up 19th-century lancet to the south, and a restored 14th-century two-light trefoiled and transomed window to the west, alongside an organ recess. The nave has long and short quoins, with three reset lesenes to the north, and 15th-century stepped buttresses to the south, east of the tower. The western side incorporates a porch and two high-set 19th-century two-light cinquefoiled windows. The tower is low, with a hipped roof and a weatherboarded top stage, featuring a 13th-century lancet with a restored 19th-century window above. A gabled stone porch, with a moulded pointed arch, is attached to the east face of the tower, housing a four-centred recess with carved spandrels.

The western annexe displays long and short quoins, a small rectangular light to the south, and a 15th-century three-light four-centred square-headed window above, similar to the one on the north side. It also features a four-centred west door. Inside the chancel the southeast window has a widely splayed rear arch, beneath which are sedilia separated by mullions incorporating later segmental heads, and a square-headed piscina recess with a shelf. A brass dating to 1434 commemorates John Kent. The chancel features a 19th-century barrel-vaulted roof and a rounded-headed chancel arch of two moulded orders, with a 19th-century timber screen below. The nave displays widely splayed openings to the north and a 13th-century piscina to the southeast. The south door has a 13th-century pointed arch with a 19th-century trefoiled inner order and double chamfered jambs. The southwest door to the tower has a four-centred head. The west wall is Saxon, containing a semi-circular arch with imposts. To the west is a projecting architrave surrounding an opening with an old studded door. The font is circular with a moulded bowl and rectangular base. A pulpit of uncertain date features carved timber open tracery. The roof is a 15th-century barrel vault, with three moulded purlins inside the barrel and moulded arch braces between bays, with bosses at the crossings. The western annexe was originally two stories high. Above the door is a life-size relief rood depicting Christ, the Virgin, and St John, with a Hand of God above, though it is defaced. Twenty medieval tiles have been discovered, alongside memorial slabs, including those for Rev Robert Fishwick (1686), Jane Pyle (1757), and Ambrose Pyle (1774), as well as a benefactors' board. The western annexe's roof is arch braced.