Church Of St Mary

Church of St. Mary, Temple Guiting

Anglican parish church comprising a 12th-century chancel with a remnant of 13th-century extension to the east, a 12th-century nave and 13th-century north transept largely rebuilt in the 16th century, a north porch added in 1884, and a west tower rebuilt in the 17th century with pinnacles added in 1834. The church was substantially restored in 1884 by J. E. Cutts. It is built of coursed squared and dressed limestone, with the north wall of the transept in limestone rubble, and is roofed with limestone slate over the chancel and north porch.

The plan comprises a nave with north porch and north transept, a west tower, and a chancel. On the north side of the nave are two Perpendicular windows with stopped hoods flanking the north porch; their tracery was removed in the 18th century and replaced with rectangular leaded panes. The north porch is gabled with an early studded plank door set within a round-headed surround. On the south side of the nave are four windows: two windows flank a former south door (now blocked), with the right-hand window retaining its original tracery. A blocked 16th-century door features a hollow-chamfered and roll-moulded surround with carved spandrels. A lancet window lower right displays a hood with ballflower ornament and stops in the form of human heads, possibly marking an entrance to a former rood loft with a plain rectangular surround. Remnants of a 12th-century corbel table appear at the east end of the nave on both north and south sides. A battlement with string below runs across the nave and transept.

The north transept has a Perpendicular window to the west with 19th-century tracery and an 18th-century Venetian-style window in the north wall; a blocked Perpendicular window with original tracery occupies the east wall. The chancel's north side features a 14th-century two-light traceried window restored in the 19th century within the blocking of an earlier window with cusped head. A small flat-chamfered four-centred arched priests' door (now blocked) is positioned lower right. A 12th-century corbel table decorated with carved animal and human heads runs along the north side; a Cross of Knights Templar appears on the fifth corbel from the right. The south side displays a similar corbel table, with Early English roll-moulded corbels at the east end remaining from the 13th-century extension. The south wall contains a 19th-century two-light traceried window with a small rectangular light lower left, and a 19th-century east window comprising two rows of three lights all with cusped heads, arranged one above the other.

The three-stage tower has a moulded plinth and diagonal buttresses. A plank door on the west is set in a plain 19th-century round-headed surround. Two-light bellcote windows with blind quatrefoils and hoods are present, and a battlemented parapet with square pinnacles rising to points at each corner runs around the top. A string below features a gargoyle at each corner and intermediate gargoyles. An engaged stair turret is incorporated part way up the south side. A clock dated 1870 is positioned at the second stage on the north side. A slatestone decorative tablet with triangular pediment commemorating Thomas Howse, died 1809, is mounted on a buttress on the north side of the tower.

The interior preserves remains of a Saxon cross on the right wall inside the porch, along with cusped heads of what may be a stone screen with carved spandrels. Plaster has been removed from the nave. High 19th-century round-headed arches open over the north and south doorways, the chancel, and transept. An 18th-century round-headed arch with two engaged columns opens to the tower. The floor is tiled in red and black. A decorated piscina with ballflower ornament is set in the east wall of the north transept, and an aumbry with shouldered arch appears in the north wall. A 12th-century reused winged lion corbel is mounted on the north wall. The nave, chancel, and chancel roofs date to the 19th century.

Fittings include a late Decorated octagonal stone font with carved four-leafed flowers on each face, positioned opposite the now-blocked south door. An early 18th-century pulpit in the north-west corner of the nave features inlaid carved enrichments and sunrays. Lecterns, pews, and stalls are all late 19th and early 20th-century work. Three 15th to early 16th-century stained glass panels in the central window of the south side nave depict St. James the Less with his emblem, the fullers' club, a trade once common in the parish. Monuments and plaques include a fine example of the arms of George II in moulded plaster, created in 1742 by John Switzer, and an 18th-century benefactions board above the font. A restored bell wheel is mounted on the north wall of the nave opposite. Remains of an 18th-century reredos preserve very fine commandment boards, creed, and Lord's Prayer with highly decorated foliate carving and margins. A decorated marble tablet with an urn commemorates The Reverend George Talbot, responsible for 18th-century restoration of the church, died 1785. A highly symbolic decorated marble monument to John Beale, died 1774, features two cherubs lying on a draped sarcophagus beneath an urn containing a snake.