Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary

Anglican parish church of 13th-century origin, probably largely rebuilt in the 14th century with 15th-century Perpendicular additions. The building was restored in 1864-8 by G.E. Street. It is constructed of ashlar with a stone slate roof and leaded roofs to the aisles.

The church comprises a nave with north and south aisles, a south porch, a chancel with a vestry on the south side and an organ chamber or vestry on the north side, and a four-stage tower at the west end.

The south aisle is buttressed and lit by four pointed two-light windows with quatrefoils. Above these, four 19th-century three-light windows with trefoiled heads light the 15th-century clerestory. At the west end is a pointed three-light window with tracery and finely carved foliate stops. The projecting south porch has a pointed entrance with a stopped hood and contains stone bench seats. Within the porch are double 19th-century plank doors set within a moulded pointed-arched surround with keel-moulded engaged columns. A 19th-century vestry at the east end of the south aisle has a gable at right angles to the chancel, with a cross-mullioned window in the gable end.

The north aisle has three 19th-century two-light windows with pointed surrounds and tracery, and a two-light pointed window at the west end. The 19th-century north door is set within a moulded four-centred arched surround. Three three-light 19th-century clerestory windows light the aisle. A 19th-century plank door with an extension on the north side provides access to the north vestry and organ chamber.

The chancel's south wall contains a pointed 19th-century two-light window with a quatrefoil at the top; the north wall has a similar window. An oval memorial plaque to the left of the north window commemorates Grace De-la Bere (died 1746) and Elizabeth De la Bere (died 1753), with a moulded margin and the remains of a painted heraldic shield at the top. A 20th-century five-light east window comprises five graded lancets with a stopped hood. A former 15th-century Perpendicular three-light east window with tracery has been reset in the east-facing gable end of the organ chamber. A 19th-century two-light pointed window is set in the north wall.

The four-stage tower has large diagonal buttresses and small raking buttresses. The lower two stages have narrow lancets, while the third and fourth stages have two-light belfry windows with stone louvres. The upper belfry windows have trefoil heads and quatrefoils. The battlemented parapet features gargoyles at each corner, with some merlons bearing heraldic shield decoration. A metal gnomon is mounted on the south side. A single piece of moulded stonework is built into the tower base, and stone steps lead up to a plank door to the first-floor stage on the north side. A 15th-century bellcote sits at the east end of the nave.

The interior has been scraped. The four-bay nave features octagonal piers to the six-bay nave arcade with moulded capitals and bases and hollow-chamfered pointed arches. The 15th-century chancel arch rises from engaged octagonal piers. Half-arches acting as flying buttresses to the chancel arch divide the north and south aisles from the organ chamber and Lady Chapel respectively. The chancel contains two pointed arches with a stone screen comprising cinquefoil-headed arches on the north side; a single 19th-century pointed arch connects the chancel to the chapel with a similar stone screen at its base. The nave has a 19th-century roof with simple braced collar beam trusses, while the chancel has a wagon roof. Plank flooring with coloured tile and grey slate covers the aisles.

A simple stoup is positioned inside the south door, and a 19th-century figure of the Virgin and Child stands above it. A basket-headed archway to the right of the chancel arch formerly gave access to a hood screen, now replaced by a simple rood beam. A 14th-century double piscina comprises two cinquefoil-headed niches both with credence shelves; the left-hand piscina has a drain and three four-petalled flowers below. A small carved aumbry door, probably of the early 18th century, features carved decoration.

The church contains a 19th-century marble font decorated with painted figures, early 20th-century pews and choir stalls, and an early 20th-century wooden pulpit with finely carved detail. A screen divides the south aisle from the chapel.

Monuments include a white marble tablet to Edward Hotheway (died 1754) and his wife Amy (died 1747) on a pier of the northern nave arcade, with palm leaf fronds at the bottom and brackets with foliate decoration either side. Two 19th-century monuments to members of the De la Bere family and three other 19th-century white or black marble monuments stand at the west end of the south aisle. A finely carved 19th-century white marble monument depicting the Virgin and Child is located at the east end of the vestry. A white marble plaque commemorates Christopher Capel, Gentleman (died 1740) and his wife Sarah (died 1733), with floral swags either side, a pair of winged cherubs' heads at the top, a segmental-headed pediment containing a skull, and a painted heraldic shield flanked by putti. Three 19th-century monuments to members of the Agg family are located on the south wall of the chancel.

The west window of the north aisle was made by Kempe in 1877. Three windows by Lawrence Lee date to 1963-7. A 20th-century east window and 19th-century glass to the clerestory are also present. A decoratively painted organ, installed in the organ chamber in 1864, remains in place.