Church Of St Michael And Attached Railings

The Church of St Michael is a building of group value, dating largely to the mid-18th century, with a mid-15th century tower. It was rebuilt between 1775 and 1777 by Thomas Paty, and is constructed of coursed, squared Pennant rubble for the crypt, with Pennant rubble and limestone dressings to the rest of the building. The church comprises an aisled nave, a chancel, north and south porches, and a west tower.

The tower is of Perpendicular Gothic style, while the church itself is in a Georgian Gothic Revival style. The east window is a three-light design with intersecting tracery, and similar two-light windows are found to the aisles, along with a two-light ogee-headed window in the south chancel wall. Cornices are present to the north and south of the chancel, with gabled aisles and nave. Cross arrow slits are present in the crypt. The north aisle has five bays with two-light windows with intersecting tracery and a cornice with small panels above and below the windows. The west porch has a depressed ogee-arched doorway, and the north-west vestry has depressed ogee arched windows with six-pane sashes. The south aisle mirrors the north side, and the porch features steps with curtail ends. The four-stage tower has diagonal buttresses, a stair turret to the southeast with a Tudor-arched door, and a four-centred arched west door with quatrefoils. The second and third stages of the tower have two-light windows, blind to the quatrefoil heads, and are dated 1811 on the south side. A belfry clock sits within a round moulding below two-light windows with openwork, with two gargoyles to the cornice, a crenellated parapet, pinnacles, and a crenellated spirelet to the stair turret.

Inside, a late 19th-century reredos features four arches and a central bay, with low, pointed niches within the chancel sides. The pointed chancel arch has sunken panels in its soffit. The five-bay nave arcade features columns with fluted capitals, supporting a plain waggon roof. Panelled beams divide the flat-ceilinged aisles, and a late 19th-century gallery occupies the west end. Fittings include a 17th-century sword rest, a 19th-century round stone pulpit with brackets, an octagonal font of 1886 replacing a 1775 design by Thomas Paty, and a brass lectern of 1887. Memorials are present, including a 1764 monument to Joseph Percivall featuring classical figures, a 1791 monument to Mary Stretton with an obelisk and figure, and an 1835 marble tablet to James Drew with Gothic detailing. Attached iron railings are a subsidiary feature.