Church Of St Thomas Of Canterbury

The Church of St Thomas of Canterbury is a church dating from the 12th century, with significant alterations in the 13th and 20th centuries. The north aisle and bell tower were added in 1900 by Sir T. G. Jackson. The church is constructed of random flint rubble with stone and brick dressings, brick quoins to buttresses, and plain tiled roofs. The tower features wood shingles, with some laid in a diamond pattern on the walls, topped by a pyramidal, shingled spire with an iron finial and a wooden clockface on the south side.

The church comprises a nave with an aisle/chapel to the north, a chancel to the east, a porch to the south, and a tower to the west. Diagonal buttresses are present at the west end, and buttresses mark the junction of the nave and chancel, and the east end. The fenestration is a mix of Perpendicular style in the nave and Early English style in the chancel, with lancet windows in the chancel and three-light, cusped-head windows in the nave and aisle/chapel. A “shouldered” stone door surround is found on the north side, while a fine, blocked, 16th-century brick door surround sits to the west, concealed under a "Tudor" style arch. The gabled porch has wavy-edged bargeboards, timber framing with rendered infill, and a brick lining, and features a studded door within a simple arched surround.

Inside, the church is simple, with a stone floor and a braced collar roof. A simple chamfered chancel arch leads into the nave, with a moulded and chamfered arch on the north side supported by a full round pier and a half round pier respond with moulded capitals. A pentice plasterwork ceiling, in a Jacobean style with strapwork decoration, oak leaves, portraits of the patron saints of the British Isles, and roses, was designed by Sir T. G. Jackson. The chancel has a three-bay crown post roof.

The church contains 17th-century altar rails with square balusters, an oak pulpit with foliage carving and a metal handrail to stone steps, and an 18th-century round font on a baluster stem. Three wooden hatchments are displayed at the west end, with three further hatchments above the chancel arch.

Monuments include mainly simple wall tablets. Within the North Chapel, a chest tomb in a wall niche is dedicated to Stuart, Baron Rendel of Hatchlands, and his wife, who died in 1912/3. This monument, designed by H Goodhart-Rendel, is in a neo-gothic style, featuring buttressed niches containing saints, a rib-vaulted wall recess, an ogee arched arcade canopy with crockets and a finial, a cusped arch arcade with pendant bosses, a black stone lid with an inscribed cross, resting on a black stone plinth, coloured coats of arms, and gilt figures. A monument to Mrs Catherine Summer, who died in 1777, is located on the North Chancel wall. This consists of a brown marble obelisk over grey stone, with a rectangular panel containing an inscription, flanked by scrolls, crowned by a broken pediment and with a white urn above. A bracketed apron panel contains a portrait profile. Stained glass is found in the south window, the work of A. S. Moore. The church occupies a prominent, central location within the village.