Church Of St Mary Magdalen

The Church of St Mary Magdalen is an Anglican parish church located in Hewelsfield. It dates from the 12th, 13th, 16th, and 19th centuries and features a nave, north aisle, south porch, central tower, chancel, and north transept. The church is constructed of sandstone with slate roofs.

The nave has a long, swept-down roof on both sides, and the porch has a coped gable. The inner door is early English, accompanied by part 19th-century doors with strap hinges. Above the door is a 12th-century image niche. To the right of the porch are a 19th-century two-light cusped lancet window and a three-light window with two quatrefoils. The squat tower has a pyramid roof supported by a Norman corbel table, a louvred lancet above a small cusped lancet, and a deep buttress with three offsets to the right.

The chancel features a coped gable with a cross, a cusped lancet, and a two-light cusped window with a carved roundel flanking a blocked priest's door. The east end has a 12th-century cusped two-light window with quatrefoil in pale tracery. To the north of the chancel is a 15th or 16th-century two-light cusped window with a square head. The east wall of the transept has a two-light cusped window from the 14th century, while the west wall contains a pointed door. The north aisle has three very small lancets, one of which is a 13th-century window cut from a single stone. The west end features a small rectangular light with a chamfered surround and a two-light cusped window from the 14th century.

Inside, the church has a four-bay nave with a transitional arcade of double chamfered pointed arches on round columns, leading to a 19th-century roof. There are two quatrefoil openings in the wall to the chancel, and the north aisle has a broad pointed arch leading to the transept. The crossing has a flat beam ceiling from the 19th century, a low, steep pointed arch to the north transept, and a 14th-century ogee-head recess in its east respond. The arches to the east and west are set in very thick walls with broad chamfers. The chancel was restored in the 19th century and features a facetted ceiling. The north transept has a plaster barrel vault and two marble wall tablets from the 18th century. At the time of the survey in November 1983, there were two lofty narrow benefactors' boards and one square board standing in the nave.