Church Of St Mary The Virgin

A small parish church with Norman origins, though substantially remodelled over the centuries. The building comprises a nave, lower and narrower chancel, early 16th-century west tower, and south porch. It was thoroughly renovated in 1876.

The external walls are constructed mostly of local mudstone rubble with some volcanic stone rubble, complemented by original granite and volcanic stone detailing. The 1876 restoration introduced red sandstone and Portland stone details. The roof is slate with crested ridge tiles.

The west tower is low and unbuttressed, with a timber-framed belfry and small splay-footed spire. The belfry was slate-hung circa 1980 with shaped slates, replacing earlier weather-boarding and oak shingles from the 19th century. Plain belfry windows are present. The tower's west side contains a late 16th or early 17th-century granite 2-centred arch doorway with moulded surround, surmounted by a contemporary granite square-headed 3-light window with round heads, sunken spandrels, and replaced mullions. The north side has tiny lights serving an internal stair turret, while the south side has a small elliptical, nearly round-headed granite light to the ringing loft. A 19th-century studded plank door with vertical cover strips and plain strap hinges occupies the tower doorway.

The south side of the nave is partly roughcast and partly exposed rubble. It features a mostly restored 2-light Perpendicular arch-headed window to the left of the porch and a rebuilt arch-headed window with plain intersecting tracery to the right. The chancel apparently dates entirely from the 1876 restoration and displays Decorated style window tracery: a small 2-light window on the south side, two 3-light windows on the east end, and a small lancet on the north side. The chancel's east end has sandstone kneelers, coping, and a fleuree apex cross. The nave gable is topped with a terracotta fleuree cross.

The south porch of 1876 is gabled with roughcast walls, Portland stone kneelers and coping, apex cross, and 2-centred outer arch with chamfered surround. It contains 20th-century double doors. The pulpit passage projects from the south side, possibly adapted from a former rood stair turret, and includes a small 19th-century trefoil-headed light. On the north side between chancel and nave stands a blind, roughcast buttress.

The interior is predominantly 1876 work but retains several good earlier features. The south doorway is a probably restored plain Norman arch containing an old plank door with front cover strips fixed by large nails. A tall plain tower arch opens to the west tower, which includes early 16th-century beams to the ringing floor and a small granite flat-arched doorway to a newel stair with hollow-chamfered surround.

The nave has a ceiled wagon roof with 8 bays. Though restored, it retains substantial late 15th-century work including a crenellated wall plate, moulded ribs enriched with four-leaf decoration, and several original carved oak bosses. The chancel arch is plain 19th-century timber, with an open 19th-century wagon roof to the chancel. Ashlar quoins are exposed in the chancel. Windows feature 19th-century stone near arches.

The pulpit passage floor includes a reset slate graveslab of John Luxton (died 1676) and 19th-century flat-arched doorways. The nave and chancel floors are laid with coloured 19th-century tiles, the chancel including contemporary encaustic tiles. A 19th-century oak altar rail on heavy wrought iron supports with foliate brackets is present, as are plain 19th-century deal benches serving as choir stalls.

The church's most notable feature is a fine and unusual late 15th-century Flamboyant Gothic oak chancel screen of outstanding quality. It comprises three bays on either side of a central door. Each bay has linenfold wainscotting and square-headed 2-light windows with twisted mullions and French-looking tracery, with sub-tracery forming delicate Flamboyant curves, of which only portions survive. Attached shafts between bays have crocketted finals. The original ogee-headed doorway with moulded surround was later adapted for a square-headed door, now missing. A unique feature is the canopy, which includes remains of three image brackets. The screen appears never to have had a rood gallery, with the head now surmounted by simple 19th-century crestwork.

A Jacobean oak semi-octagonal drum pulpit sits on a 19th-century sandstone base. Its panelled sides include lower carved strapwork panels and upper panels with ornate chip-carved blind arches enriched with rosettes and a strapwork frieze above.

A 19th-century Beerstone Decorated Gothic style octagonal font is present. Two marble Neo-classical mural monuments occupy both sides of the nave: one in memory of John Weston (died 1798), his wife Anne (died 1801), and their descendants to 1830; the other to Reverend John Luxton (died 1837). The south side bears a plain plaque in memory of Abraham Tidboald (died 1842).

Late 19th-century stained glass is present in the chancel and east end of the nave.

The chancel screen was either imported from Brittany or, more likely given its precise fit, created by an immigrant Breton master craftsman. Two nearby parish churches—Colebrooke and Coldridge—have Flamboyant screens so similar as to be the work of the same hand.