Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is an Anglican parish church dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries, with significant alterations in the 14th century and a substantial rebuilding in 1748. Further changes occurred in 1832 and later restorations in 1875 and 1904, overseen by C.E. Ponting. The church is primarily constructed from limestone structural work with malmstone infilling, largely covered in pebbledash, and is roofed with stone slate. The design is of a simple two-cell layout, comprising a nave and chancel. A 14th-century south door remains, while the original north doorway has been blocked and replaced with a glazed opening.

The nave incorporates late Saxon features, indicated by pilaster strips that divide the walls into four bays, capped with a gable covering two bays. The strips are rebated for rendering. Flush quoins, large and alternately side-faced, are present. The east and west gables are raised, coped, and topped with terminal crosses. Paired rectangular openings are provided within the gables for bells. The west window features three lights, with reserved chamfered mullions. A scratch sundial is located on the south-east quoins. The chancel was rebuilt in 1748 for Nicholas Preston, using diaper brickwork on rubble stone sills, and incorporating ashlar quoins and a corbel table. It contains two-light, ogee, square-headed windows, likely reusing earlier elements, and a blocked keyed oculus in the east gable.

The interior is intimate in character. The nave has a two-bay arrangement with an 18th-century panelled west gallery supported by a single column and a rear staircase. The roof is of a quasi-raised cruck construction, having threaded purlins and a square-set ridge. Long, curved arch braces connect to the purlins, alongside chamfered tie beams. Rafters and ashlars are exposed. Early to mid-18th century dado panelling is also present. The chancel arch was altered in 1832, replacing the original Saxon design and incorporating 11th and 12th century moulded imposts. The chancel features a coved ceiling. The font is of Early English origin, with an inelegant stone basin on a baluster stem. A matching pulpit, also from the 18th century, is raised and panelled. Steps leading to the pulpit are encased in reused late 17th and early 18th century panelling, which also encloses a reader’s pew. Oak pews date to the 19th century, as do the simple 18th-century choir seats. A north chancel window displays arms and an inscription from 1737 relating to W. Lamplugh, the rector. Numerous wall memorials are present. In the chancel, on the north side, is a 1652 marble slab commemorating Warner South, the rector, bearing a Latin inscription, alongside six other early 19th-century memorials in a simple Classical style, memorializing Theresa Brereton (died 1835) and members of the Crowe family, known for their diplomatic achievements. Ten wall tablets are found in the nave, including a limestone, pedimented aedicule dedicated to Thomas Chandler (died 1790). Four brasses are also present, one in the chancel commemorating William Budd, rector, who died in 1685. On the west front of the church, two oval tablets featuring crests are displayed, though one is now missing. Furniture within the chancel includes a 17th-century oak chair with a carved back and a three-legged serving table with ball and claw feet.