Church of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a substantial building with origins in the 11th and 12th centuries, expanded in the 13th and largely rebuilt in the early 14th century. Constructed of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings and sheet metal roofs, it comprises a three-bay aisled nave with a chancel, a west tower, and a south porch. The chancel retains small round-headed windows on either side and a 13th-century lancet on the south side, but now features 2-light side windows and a 4-light east window in the Decorated style. The south aisle is notable for its elaborate Decorated detailing, including a high moulded plinth, gabled buttresses with ogee-canpied niches, and a series of 3-light side windows, a 4-light east window and a 2-light west window, each with a different tracery pattern. The two-story south porch has a ribbed quadripartite vault with a richly carved boss, and its parapet continues around the aisle, displaying fantastic gargoyles. The north aisle is plainer, with 3-light windows of reticulated tracery, but incorporates a 13th-century doorway featuring a deeply-moulded arch supported by five shafts with stiff-leaf capitals, both detached and attached. The three-stage late 14th-century tower has deep diagonal buttresses, a 2-light west window with early Perpendicular tracery, and 2-light belfry openings with Y-tracery. A low clerestory incorporates quatrefoil windows and a 3-light east window. Inside, the chancel has a low king post roof with curved braces from wall posts. Features include a 19th-century three-seat sedilia, a 15th-century piscine, remnants of a 13th-century piscina, and a double aumbrey. The early 13th-century nave arcades have Norman openings visible above the north arcade. The nave roof is dated 1522, while the south aisle’s roof dates to 1735 and contains a large 14th-century piscina with double-cusped reticulated tracery. The church contains stained glass including an east window dating from 1850 by Willement, mid-19th-century glass in the chancel and the west ends of the aisles, and 14th-century panels in a 1915 north aisle window. 20th-century windows were designed by Farrer Bell for the south aisle. Fittings include a mid-17th-century pulpit with arched panels and 19th-century choir stalls incorporating a medieval bench-end carved with chalice and flagons. Monumental brasses commemorate four children. A sumptuous canopied alabaster monument memorializes Sir Michael Dormer (died 1616), his wife and his father, showing three full-length figures and high-quality carved panels including a military scene. Other monuments include a cartouche to Joanna Meetkerke (died 1695), a monument with a swan-necked pediment to Elizabeth Wilkinson (died 1654), and several 18th-century wall monuments.