Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary

A Grade I listed church of 12th-century origin, substantially remodelled in the mid 13th century. The church underwent significant expansion around 1330 when Abbot Thomas of Osney Abbey added north-east and south-east chapels and aisles. A 15th-century clerestory was later inserted.

The building is constructed of squared and coursed limestone with coursed limestone rubble. Stone-coped gabled roofs cover the chancel, south-east chapel, transept and porch in stone slate, while the nave aisles and north-east chapel roofs are covered in lead.

The church follows a mid 13th-century cruciform plan with early 14th-century chapels, tower and aisles. Throughout the exterior, 14th-century hood moulds with head stops frame all windows. The chancel features mid 13th-century offset corner buttresses, an early 14th-century quatrefoil window above a 15th-century Perpendicular three-light window, and a two-light Decorated south window. The south-east chapel displays an early 14th-century curvilinear five-light window with a carved head set in the centre of a foliated circle in the apex, and two three-light rectilinear windows to its south side. The north-east chapel has a curvilinear four-light east window and two three-light rectilinear south windows. The south transept, restored in the late 19th century, contains a 15th-century Perpendicular three-light east window, a similar restored window, and a 17th-century sundial to the south. Above an early 14th-century pointed arched chamfered doorway sits a medieval gabled stone hood and hood mould; the ancient door retains mid 18th-century panelling to its rear. The north transept holds a 15th-century three-light trefoil-headed window and a Perpendicular three-light window to the east, with a similar Perpendicular north window, two mid 13th-century lancets, three 15th-century trefoil-headed lights, a mid 19th-century stack and doorway. The tower displays late 13th-century trefoil-headed lancets to its lower stage and early 14th-century Decorated two-light lucarnes.

The north side of the nave features offset corner buttresses, a stair-turret with slit lights, a 19th-century three-light window and 15th-century Perpendicular three-light clerestory windows. The south aisle has three restored early 14th-century Decorated three-light windows and a plain parapet. An early 14th-century gabled porch has a canopy above a pointed arched moulded doorway ornamented with ballflower carving; an early 14th-century south doorway adjoins. Five 15th-century cinquefoiled clerestory windows light the clerestory. The west gable displays a 15th-century Perpendicular five-light window with panel tracery, and ancient studded double doors with strap hinges lead through a 15th-century casement-moulded doorway.

The interior contains an early 14th-century cinquefoiled piscina and sedilia. A 19th-century communion rail incorporates reset 15th-century cusped panels. Reset glazed 14th-century floor tiles remain in place. The nave is spanned by a fine 14th-century three-bay arch-braced roof with hollow-moulded arch braces and moulded purlins and ashlar plates, supported by head corbels. Two-bay early 14th-century north and south arcades feature double-chamfered arches set on central octagonal piers. The north chapel features hood moulds with head stops and 14th-century carved corbels supporting its ceiling. The south chapel shows hood moulds with crouching figures to the stops and a similar four-bay arch-braced roof, restored in the 19th century. A triple-chamfered chancel arch and double-chamfered crossing arches rest on heavy chamfered piers with moulded capitals; early 14th-century corbels support a beamed ceiling. The south transept contains a similar four-bay roof, a blocked Norman window, and a crocketed cinquefoiled piscina. The north transept has a 15th-century three-bay arch-braced tie-beam roof with hollow-moulded beams, king struts and traceried spandrels; two 14th-century head corbels and a crocketed cinquefoiled piscina are present. The nave holds a Jacobean pulpit with blind arcading and richly carved decoration, a trefoiled statue niche in the south-east corner, and a 12th-century tub font set on a 15th-century octagonal base. The south aisle has a 15th-century roof with moulded beams and ashlar plates, and solid wood arch braces with pierced cusping.

Wall paintings include a 15th-century Virgin and Child and part of a narrative scene on the east wall and a painted fragment on the west wall of the north transept. The church contains very fine 15th-century doors and a similar traceried rood screen. Ten mid 13th-century misericords are recorded by Crossley. Two 15th-century benches with poppyhead finials remain. Mid 19th-century stalls incorporate reset panels from 15th-century bench ends, featuring arms, rebuses, badges and traceried carvings. The north chapel displays a fine 15th-century traceried screen with quatrefoil spandrels to a pointed-arched doorway and a 15th-century door with Decorated-style blind tracery; a similar screen stands at the west end. The south chapel has a similar screen with a cusped head to its doorway, fitted with a 15th-century door.

Memorials include a wall tablet with scrolled ends to William Smith, died 1793, and family, and a tablet to Margaret May, died 1716, featuring a cartouche with cherubs' heads and festoons. A memorial to John Smith, died 1764, displays a heraldic cartouche and cherub's heads below. The north chapel contains memorial tablets to Reverend Joseph Smith and his wife May, died 1745, and Anne Hargreaves, died 1762, along with a mid 18th-century monument with heraldic cartouche and urns surmounting an architectural frame. The south transept holds a memorial to John Philips, died 1719, and a mid 18th-century monument with an urn surmounting an architectural frame. 19th-century wall tablets and 17th and 18th-century ledger stones are also present. The stained glass includes reset 13th to 15th-century fragments, panels, figures and armorial glass in the east and south chancel windows; the west window dates to 1857 and is by O'Connor.