Church of St Mary

Church of St Mary

This is a church of 12th-century origins with later modifications, including a substantial mid-19th-century restoration scheme undertaken by TG Jackson.

The building is constructed of flint with ashlar dressings on a brick and stone plinth. The roofs are tiled, with the bell tower at the west end clad in shingles and topped by a pyramidal roof.

The church has a rectangular footprint oriented west to east, consisting of an undivided chancel and nave with a projecting south porch and north vestry.

Exterior

The two-cell church is covered by pitched roofs with a small bell tower at the west end. The walls retain some medieval masonry, including three surviving 12th-century round-arch windows in the chancel and nave, two of which are visible externally while the third is blocked and only visible from inside. The walls have mid-19th-century cement pointing, and the pointed-arch and ogee-arch windows throughout the building are mid-19th-century replacements. The west end and the top of the east wall have been rebuilt, most likely during the mid-19th-century restoration work.

The south elevation has a mid-19th-century timber porch with a brick plinth and fretted bargeboards. Within the porch is the south timber door with large C-hinges, set within a pointed arch. To the right is a two-light nave window with quatrefoil within a pointed arch opening, a single-lancet window, a round-arch window, and a pair of buttresses. The west end includes a lancet window under an ogee arch. Above this is the low shingle-clad bell tower with louvre openings, topped by a pyramidal roof with a weathervane.

The north elevation includes a mid-19th-century pitched-roof vestry with square-headed windows. There is a pre-1850s lean-to buttress which covers a blocked round-arch nave window and incorporates two stone memorials in the north and east returns. Also on this elevation is a pointed-arch double-lancet nave window, a single-light round-arch chancel window, and a further pair of buttresses.

The east elevation features a tall double-lancet window with quatrefoil, all under a pointed arch and flanked by buttresses. The stonework in the apex differs slightly from the rest of the building, with rubble flint incorporating stone laid out in diamond pattern. This end is topped by a date stone reading '1868' and a metal cross. The tile roof has an ashlar ridge, with the roofline over the chancel slightly lower than the nave.

Interior

The chancel and nave form one uninterrupted space. Opposite the south entrance is the round-headed north nave doorway leading through to the vestry. Near the centre of the west end is a late-12th-century circular stone baptismal font with a bulging basin carved with arcade detailing, projecting slightly over its wide round pedestal. The nave floor has 19th-century red tile with black tile detailing, installed by Godwins. Mid-19th-century pews occupy the nave and chancel.

At the junction of the nave and chancel are the stumps of a former rood beam embedded in the north and south walls, their moulding indicating a 14th-century date. The mid-19th-century timber pulpit has foiled panels.

The chancel floor is an elaborate opus sectile laid as a Cosmati-style mosaic, installed by J Powell and Sons. In the south chancel wall is a 12th-century piscina with a multi-scalloped projecting basin. Above it is a triangular-headed aumbry with an aperture probably dating to the 12th century, lined by later timberwork. A chancel window in the north wall retains a 12th-century wall painting within its splays, depicting a three-branched tree on one side and a crowned woman on the other believed to represent either St Mary or St Margaret of Antioch, with a star in the apex. A mid-19th-century wrought-iron and timber communion rail is also present.

Much of the glazing was replaced in the mid-19th century. The east window was created by J Powell and Sons to designs by Jackson, incorporating panels by H Holliday. The north and south chancel stained glass windows are by Lavers and Barraud. The 19th-century west-end window incorporates stained glass with an armorial motif reused from the former east window. C19 memorial tablets are set on the chancel walls.

The exposed mid-19th-century roof is supported by a pair of timber posts near the middle (separating the nave and chancel) and at the east end (supporting the bell tower), both with similar moulded detailing. The roof has six principal trusses with chamfered and stopped tie beams reinforced by metal straps in a variety of forms: a queen-post truss at the west end, four central trusses with crown posts flanked by raked struts, and an A-frame truss at the east end.