Parish Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The parish church of St Mary the Virgin is a 15th-century building, with a 16th-century north aisle and some window tracery renewed in the 19th century. It is constructed of coursed rubble conglomerate with some flint, with Beer stone dressings internally. The church comprises a west tower, nave, south porch, north aisle, chancel, and sanctuary, all roofed with slate.

The west tower is unbuttressed and of one stage, built in three phases. The lower courses incorporate significant amounts of flint with limestone quoins, the middle section features large conglomerate blocks, and the upper courses are 19th century with battlementing. It has a belfry with two square-headed 2-light openings, a 3-light Perpendicular west window with a hood mould and head terminals, and a wavy-moulded surround to the west doorway.

The north aisle has a 3-light Perpendicular west window, three 3-light square-headed windows with shallow cusping, likely dating to the early 16th century, a chamfered, square-headed north doorway, and a 3-light Perpendicular east window. The chancel features a mid-19th century 3-light Perpendicular east window. The south wall of the nave displays disturbed masonry and two 19th-century 2-light square-headed windows; traces of a dismantled rood screen stair turret are visible as a vertical masonry joint. The south porch has a flat roof with a parapet, partially rebuilt and retaining an outer moulded arch and a frieze of quatrefoils bearing a partly obliterated legend including the name ‘Johannes...’. The inner doorway is chamfered with pyramid stop.

Inside, the nave and chancel are undivided. The four-bay north arcade has wide, low bays with piers featuring wavy moulding and moulded bases; the capitals are crisply carved with shields and foliage, including armorial devices incorporating the duchy of Cornwall’s spread-eagle. The tower arch is chamfered with run-out stops. The roofs are ceiled and canted to the nave and chancel, with a barrel vault to the aisle. A north-east chapel features an octagonal stem with pyramid stops and a later bowl. A screen spans the nave, consisting of eight bays, each with coupled lights featuring ogival cinquefoiled heads and richly carved spandrels; similar wainscotting has tracery heads that are not ogival. The coving incorporates painted motifs of Renaissance character, and a single vine-leaf cornice frieze. Evidence of ancient paint is present, and the screen was recently restored in 1985. Two late medieval figures (probably from the early 16th century) are visible in the top lights of the north aisle, and the east window depicts St John and St Michael.