Church Of St Michael

Church of St Michael

Parish church. Originally constructed in the 14th century and substantially rebuilt in 1431. The church was restored in 1874 at a cost of £1,200 (or £1,800) and again in 1890 when the chancel was restored at a cost of £300. It is constructed of dressed slate rubble with 19th-century limestone windows except in the tower, which retains 15th-century granite windows. The roofs are slate with stone and concrete coping to gable ends.

The church comprises a nave, chancel, six-bay north and south aisles, north and south transepts, a west tower, a south porch, and a vestry on the north side of the chancel. A rector is first recorded in 1309–10. The dedication in 1431 represents a rededication when the church was virtually rebuilt. The nave was entirely reconstructed when the north and south aisles were added. The north and south transepts indicate a uniform plan, though it is uncertain whether they too were rebuilt at this time. The chancel was not completely rebuilt, as some 14th-century work survives, but the 15th-century west tower replaced an earlier tower of which only the tower arch survives. The south porch is probably a 17th-century addition. The vestry on the north side of the chancel was probably added in the early 19th century when the church was refenestrated. Davidson noted in 1842 that the church had been "modernised with incongruous wooden mullions", possibly referring to windows like those of the vestry. All windows were replaced during the 1874 restoration except for the tower windows.

Exterior features include a chamfered plinth around the church. The south side has 19th-century four-light perpendicular windows with two-centred arches and buttresses between them. Three-light perpendicular east and west windows of the south aisle also date to the 19th century. The south transept contains a 19th-century three-light perpendicular window with a three-centred arch and a slate sundial below dated 1811. A polygonal rood stair turret occupies the right-hand angle, featuring very small round-headed lancets and an embattled parapet.

The gabled south porch has a dressed slate segmented arch. The inner doorway features a double roll-moulded four-centre arch and a 19th-century plank door with strap hinges. The north side is similar but without a porch. The chancel has a large 19th-century perpendicular east window, a 19th-century perpendicular two-light south window, and a priest's doorway on the south side with a dressed slate two-centred (almost round) arch and a 20th-century door. On the north side, a slate-built vestry with slate coped gable ends, an east end stack, and two 19th-century windows with wooden mullions and curved braces stands parallel.

The tall three-stage west tower features set-back buttresses with set-offs, granite two-light bell openings with four-centred heads, hoodmoulds, and slate louvres. An embattled parapet without pinnacles crowns the tower, and a polygonal stair turret at the centre of the south side has an embattled parapet above the main parapet. A four-centred arch external doorway opens at the base of the stair tower. The 15th-century perpendicular three-light west window is set above a round arch double-chamfered dressed slate west doorway, now serving as a window.

Interior: The arcades and rear arches are of Beerstone with exposed stone rubble walls and a late 19th-century quarry tile floor. Unceiled waggon roofs with moulded ribs and bosses appear to be late 19th century, except for the south aisle roof which is largely 15th-century and the chancel roof which is ceiled between the ribs and may also be 15th-century.

The six-bay north and south arcades are of Beerstone with B-type piers (wave moulding between the shafts), moulded bases, carved foliage capitals, and moulded four-centred (almost round) arches. A tall unmoulded two-centred tower arch with chamfered imposts separates the nave from the tower.

A fine 14th-century double piscina on the south side of the chancel features cusped ogee arches with crockets, head stops, and bases with covered heads and foliage. A 13th-century style reredos with a blind four-bay arcade is also present in the chancel.