Church Of St Thomas A Becket

Church of St Thomas A Becket

Former parish church, now cared for by the Redundant Churches Fund. The building has Norman origins with a 13th-century chancel arch. The tower and nave roof date to the 14th or early 15th century, with some alterations made in the 16th and 17th centuries following a fire in 1639. The chancel and much of the south wall were refurbished in the 19th century. The chancel and north wall are constructed of plastered stone, while the tower and south wall of the nave are built of large blocks of coursed sandstone ashlar, with the medieval section of the south wall comprising smaller, less well-dressed blocks. The roof is covered with peg tiles.

The plan consists of a small church with a nave, lower chancel, and a large but relatively short west tower. Access is through the tower, and a 19th-century vestry stands on the north side of the chancel.

The single-stage west tower has a moulded plinth, low diagonal buttresses, a crenellated parapet, and a pyramid roof topped with a 20th-century cast iron weather vane. The belfry contains large louvred lancets and tiny slit windows serving the ringing floor. The west doorway is a plain round-headed arch containing a 19th-century plank door with coverstrips. Above it is a 14th or early 15th-century window consisting of a double lancet with cusped ogival arch heads.

The nave has low walls and a tall roof. The south side displays a four-window front, with the western bay containing a restored 16th-century two-light window with arch heads with sunk spandrels and a hoodmould. The remaining bays were rebuilt in the 19th century with similar Tudor-style two and three-light windows separated by buttresses. The plastered north side of the nave contains two medieval windows: a large trefoil-headed lancet near the west end and a narrow lancet high in the wall near the centre. The chancel is also plastered. The south wall features a late 18th or early 19th-century priests' door containing a domestic-looking panelled door with a plain hood on shaped timber brackets. The east window is a 19th-century triple lancet in Early English style. The brick vestry windows have shoulder-headed lights.

The interior porch is situated inside the tower with a plain plaster ceiling and plain, probably 19th-century, timber stairs. The doorway to the nave contains a late 18th or early 19th-century panelled door similar to that in the priests' doorway. Both the tower and chancel have comparable arches: two-centred arches with semi-octagonal shafts, moulded imposts, and double-chamfered arch rings. The nave features a particularly good 14th or early 15th-century roof comprising three bays with arch-braced tie-beams, octagonal crown posts with moulded capitals and bases, and common rafter trusses with soulaces. The chancel has a similar common rafter roof, but this dates to the 19th century.

The walls are lime-washed. Towards the west end of the north wall is an arch-headed niche, either a blocked window or doorway. The north wall also preserves extensive remains of apparently 13th-century mural paintings, which extend into the reveals of the windows and niche. These narrative biblical scenes are documented in historical sources. At the east end is part of a 16th-century painted figure, and adjacent to the chancel arch is a painted scrolled strapwork frame, presumably originally surrounding a now missing text. A 20th-century tile floor covers the nave, with older tiles retained in the chancel.

The chancel contains a 20th-century stone altar table. A fine oak communion rail, carved with the date 1682 and the name Michael Davis, features a moulded handrail, turned balusters, and ball finials to the standards. A 19th-century oak drum pulpit and pine benches are also present. The font is plain, probably medieval, stone with an octagonal bowl on a cylindrical shaft. The only monument is a plain marble plaque in the chancel in memory of Thomas Martin, who died in 1834. The nave contains brass plaques commemorating the dead of both World Wars. A nowy-headed board above the tower arch displays the royal arms GR and is flanked by contemporary 18th-century boards with the text of the Lord's Prayer. Below the arch are similar commandment boards. Stained glass in the east window is dated 1905.