Church Of St Michael

The Church of St Michael is a parish church with Norman origins, augmented in the 14th and 15th centuries, and restored and extended in 1893. The building is constructed of stone rubble with some large dressed granite blocks to the tower. It has a gable ended slate roof. The plan comprises a nave, chancel, west tower, a south porch, and a vestry to the north of the chancel. The nave’s basic structure is likely Norman, based on its south doorway and a window in the north wall. The chancel may also be Norman but was extended and refitted in 1893, when the vestry was added. The west tower is likely a 14th-century addition, while the south porch dates from the 15th century.

The tower is three stages high, crenellated with plain pinnacles and no buttresses. A two-light granite mullion window is present on the first stage, with segmental heads. A rectangular stair projection on the north side rises only halfway up the tower. A roundheaded lancet window, likely from the 20th century, is set into the west end of the north wall of the nave. The vestry projects as a small wing from the north side of the chancel. A three-light Perpendicular style east window, dating to the 1893 restoration, is accompanied by a buttress below. The south side of the chancel features a restored square-headed two-light window and a restored three-light Perpendicular style window, with a shallow rectangular rood stair projection between them. The 15th-century gabled south porch has a granite four-centred double roll- and hollow-moulded arched doorway with incised scroll stops and a hoodmould.

The porch contains a patterned cobbled floor with the date 1818 outlined in the design. The interior features a largely restored wagon roof with moulded ribs, carved bosses, and a crenellated wall plate with high relief carving. The south doorway is plain, with a double roundheaded arch; the outer arch is chamfered with high relief carved balls and stars around the top, exhibiting plain jambs with imposts. A plain pointed arch defines the tower. The nave’s wagon roof from the 15th century possesses moulded ribs, carved bosses of various designs, and trailing foliage wall-plates. The chancel has a restored boarded wagon roof. A 17th-century semi-octagonal panelled pulpit is also present, along with a square Norman font with four moulded corner shafts and a central stem, topped with a 17th-century wooden pyramidal cover with a finial. A well-preserved plaster relief of the royal arms graces the north wall, complete with a pediment and columns flanking it. An inscription at the base reads "Hanibal Jerman and John Tawton. Church wardens in 1704." A slate wall memorial in the tower dated 1611 is dedicated to Elizabeth Hitchins. A slate wall memorial on the south wall of the nave commemorates Samuel Jerman, who died in 1758, detailing his charitable bequests. The church is described as simple but with good quality detail, with the 19th-century restoration enhancing its character.