Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church largely dating to the 12th century, with significant alterations and extensions in the 15th century. A substantial restoration occurred in 1891, and a north vestry was added at that time. The church is constructed of banded flint and dressed stone with clay tile roofs.

The original core of the church is the nave, which retains traces of two opposed 12th-century doorways. The south doorway is now blocked and features chamfered jambs of two orders; the outer order is round-headed, and the inner is segmental-headed, with a moulded label. The north doorway was partly rebuilt with similar jambs, the outer arch being round-headed and the inner order a late 15th-century four-centred arch. The south wall has three 15th-century windows, each with three trefoiled ogee lights, incorporating panel tracery within a two-centred head, moulded reveals and labels with head-stops. Internally, the window jambs have 15th-century stone brackets for statues. The north wall has two 15th-century windows, each with three cinquefoiled lights, and partially restored.

The west tower, also dating to the 15th century, has three stages and an embattled parapet with gargoyles. The west window has two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head, and a label. A simple pointed-arch doorway provides access. The bell chamber has windows of two trefoiled lights in a square head. The chancel was rebuilt in 1891, and features a foundation stone dating to August 13th, 1891, inscribed with the name Elizabeth Mary Pope. The east window is a 19th-century design, with five lights, trefoil cusping, and geometrical tracery in the head. A string course runs beneath two-light windows with trefoil cusping, stopping directly beneath the east window.

Inside, the north hall of the chancel incorporates a re-erected 12th-century chancel arch, two-centred with two continuous chamfered orders and a label. This arch was reconstructed in 1891 with triple-filleted responds and continuously filleted outer-arch mouldings. The nave roof is of six bays, with arch-braced collars carried on short hammers, ogival bracing below, a castellated wall-plate, and foliage scrollwork. The font has a circular stone bowl with a plain band at the top and a filleted under edge, likely dating to the 13th century, set upon a 19th-century stem. A staircase within the tower is of early 16th-century construction, featuring a five-sided framed stair with linenfold panels and a moulded post rising in trumpet form, with some repairs. The window niches and tower staircase represent significant historic survivals.