Church Of St Michael

The Church of St Michael is an Anglican parish church largely dating to the late 13th century, with additions and alterations in the 14th and 15th centuries, and a Victorian restoration in 1878. It is constructed of dressed limestone with a tiled roof. The church's layout is cruciform, without aisles, and features a south tower positioned west of the south transept, near the main entrance.

The three-stage tower has a hollow-chamfered pointed arched doorway with a diagonal buttress to the left and an angle buttress to the right, set back from the face, with offset string courses. The bellstage displays a two-light segmental-headed Perpendicular window with a hoodmould on the south side, and a lancet on the west side at the second stage and a cusped square-headed window in the bellstage itself. A string course with gargoyles tops the battlemented parapet. The south side of the nave has a two-light 19th-century Perpendicular-style window to the left of the tower. The south transept features three trefoil-headed stepped lancets arranged in a pointed arch, with a diagonal buttress to the right. The east side presents a 15th-century two-light cusped square-headed window. The chancel has a small pointed priests’ door with a 19th-century door, flanked by two two-light pointed Perpendicular windows with hoodmoulds. The east end is dominated by a three-light pointed Perpendicular window with grotesque terminals, topped by a coped verge with a cross finial. Below is a blocked segmental-headed archway leading to a vault. On the north side, two two-light windows are similar to those on the south side. A recessed pointed chamfered doorway sits to the right.

The north transept incorporates a 19th-century lancet to the east and a two-light window with Y- tracery to the north. A lean-to vestry is attached to the west. The north side of the nave contains a 14th-century two-light window with reticulated tracery and a 2-light Perpendicular window. The west end has a three-light Perpendicular window with a hoodmould, coped verge with saddlestone, a large clasping buttress to the left, and a diagonal buttress to the right.

Inside, the porch has a hollow-chamfered inner doorway. A 12th-century square font, with blind arcading, rests against a wall, accompanied by a stone bench and a square recess for a stoup. The nave’s five-bay arch-braced collar roof is supported by stone corbels, and the floor is diagonally-laid stone. The north transept, now functioning as a vestry, contains a double-chamfered arch on a 13th-century compound half-pier with keel moulding and moulded capping, along with a three-bay restored collar roof, and a remnant of a former doorway, connecting to the nave. The south transept exhibits a 19th-century double-chamfered arch and a two-bay collar roof. A 19th-century moulded pointed chancel arch stands on compound half-piers. The chancel has a barrel-vaulted boarded roof, four high steps leading to the altar rail, situated above the Penruddocke vault. Fittings include 19th-century pews, an octagonal stone font, likely 14th century, and a Tudor pulpit with linenfold panelling. Memorials include a scrolled pedimented stone tablet in the chancel dedicated to Johannis Martin (died 1693), and a large white marble on the north wall of the chancel commemorating members of the Penruddocke family of Compton Park House.