Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is an Anglican parish church dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries, with subsequent work in around 1687, 1810, a restoration in 1886, and further work in 1977. The church is constructed of flint with limestone dressings, with the tower rendered and displaying exposed quoining, and is whitewashed. It has tiled roofs.

The original structure comprised a short nave and chancel from the late 12th to early 13th centuries, and a 12th-century tower at the west end. A south porch was erected after the removal of a south aisle. The entrance to the porch is through a reset chamfered arch with a moulded hood and block terminals. The nave has two-light plate tracery windows dating from the 19th century. There is an ogee-headed lancet window on the south wall of the chancel, and an early 19th-century brick arched window elsewhere. The east window is from the late 19th century. The north wall of the chancel was rebuilt in 1810 with brick banding. A reset datestone from 1687 appears in the east wall. A window head of Saxo-Norman type is incorporated into the north nave wall. The tower has a north door and a three-light west window. The bell openings are of 12th and early 14th-century date and are covered by a pyramidal tiled roof.

The interior features a two-bay nave with a late 12th to early 13th century arcade of chamfered arches on octagonal columns and responds, which have been blocked on their outer faces, suggesting a reduction in the original layout during the medieval period. The roof is 14th century, with arch braced trussed rafters and a moulded central tie beam. Old plaster remains. A blocked north door exists. The chancel arch is similarly chamfered, with responds having bar stops, and the chancel itself was plastered and ceiled in 1810, featuring a simple cornice. The tower arch spans the full width of the tower.

The church contains several notable features. A late 12th to early 13th century font stands on a turned shaft. The pulpit is a 19th-century panelled limestone structure, octagonal in shape, with steps leading from the chancel. Simple altar rails are present. C17 panelling adorns the east wall of the sanctuary. Traces remain of earlier painted decoration, including St Christopher on the north wall (now removed), and a black letter inscription from Luke XIII over the chancel arch. There is a small painted area above the pulpit.

Seven wall monuments are located in the chancel. These include memorials to Jane Tanner (1849), Frances Tanner (1823), Elizabeth Powell (1753), Edward Griffith and his wife (1889), Ethel Allan (1915), Rev Charles Coleman (1815), and Betty Westcott (1834). The nave also holds memorials to William Cusse (1814) and Herbert Mauger. Two 19th-century painted commandment boards are situated under the tower. Furniture includes a small 17th-century oak chest in the sanctuary, with incised arcading, and a small 18th-century oak box with two locks.