Parish Church Of St Mary

The Parish Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building located in Powerstock. The church features a chancel arch and tower core from the 12th century, with 14th century north and south arcades. The tower was buttressed and heightened in the 15th century, while the chancel was rebuilt in 1859. The north and south aisle walls were also constructed in the 19th century, and the south entrance dates from the 15th century, with a south porch added in the 19th century. The church is built with rabble and ashlar stone walls and has slate roofs.

The west tower consists of three stages, featuring a moulded plinth and an embattled parapet. The west door, dating to around the 15th century, has moulded jambs and a pointed arch, adorned with paterae and a label supported by side pinnacles. The rere-arch includes three chamfered ribs. A three-light west window has curved ogee heads and intersecting tracery, with labels and stops added in the 19th century. The bell-chamber contains an early 15th century window on each face, and there is a 15th century newel staircase in the south-west corner. The south aisle was rebuilt in the 19th century, featuring three bays with two-light windows that have cusped designs and trefoil-in-circle heads, along with roll-labels and head-stops beneath a straight parapet.

The south porch, added in the 19th century, features a pointed arch entrance with multi-moulded details and nook shafts with foliage capitals. Above the entrance is a small trefoil light, with a string course that has head-stops below it. The chancel, also from the 19th century, has three bays with two-light windows showcasing Y-tracery and falchions, and a three-light east window with a cusped roundel at the top. Diagonal buttresses are present at the corners of the 19th century work.

Inside, the chancel arch is an ornate 12th century structure with a semi-circular shape and four orders: the inner order features a bold cable on the soffit, followed by a chip-carved saltire and roll, a hollow and roll, and a chevron on a roll. The responds include a half-column, a square design, and chevron ornamentation. The north respond has a lozenge pattern, while the south features a tendril design with leaves. The capitals are elaborately carved with volute-blocks and scallops, and the bases are moulded. The nave arcade consists of round columns with moulded capitals and bases, and pointed arches of two chamfered orders from the 14th century. The nave roof, constructed in the 19th century, has steep arch-braced principals supported by carved stone corbels. The font is a broken octagonal bowl with a moulded shafted stem, dating to the 13th century. There is a monument in the tower commemorating Thomas Larcombe, who died in 1610, made of stone with an arched panel.