Church Of St Mary Magdalene

The Church of St Mary Magdalene is a parish church with elements dating back to the Norman period, a 13th-century chancel, a 15th-century Perpendicular nave, and aisles added around 1450. A tower was also constructed around 1450. The church underwent restoration in 1858, which involved the removal of a west end gallery and the destruction of an 1813 screen, and again in 1890-91, when reseating, nave, and aisle roof renewal was carried out by J D Sedding. The church is built with roughcast to the nave, coursed lias rubble to the tower, and has slate roofs, with the nave and aisles united under a single roofline and coped verges.

The west tower is crenellated, with set-back buttresses, string courses, a crenellated north-east stair turret, and 2-light, louvred bell openings. A 2x4-light west window is set within a moulded surround, while a C19 west door is present. The south porch is single-storey, gabled, and features a moulded arched opening with a round arched inner doorway, possibly incorporating reset Norman work. A statue niche sits above the doorway, and the porch roof is a wagon style with bosses. Inside the porch is an early medieval door with C13 ironwork. The chancel has a 3-light east window and two 2-light, trefoil-headed mullioned windows forming a clearstorey. A lancet and a 2-light window flank the priest's door. Other windows include a 2x3-light east window, a 3-light, cinquefoil-headed mullioned window, and a lancet. A rood stair projection is located in the angle with the north aisle, and the west end has a 2-light window and an external chimney stack.

The interior is rendered. The arcade is a standard four-bay Perpendicular style, with a moulded Perpendicular chancel arch and a moulded tower arch with partially dressed corbels. The roofs are renewed wagon style with the chancel roof retaining original bosses and wallplate. A doorway leads to the rood stair, with a loft opening above in the north-east corner of the chancel arch wall. A Norman font with an arcade of twisted columns and a frieze of saltire crosses is present. The church also has a Jacobean pulpit, a painted panel of the Royal Coat of Arms of James I dated 1609 – said to be one of only four extant – C18 turned baluster altar rails, and a piece of C14 stained glass depicting the Virgin in the East window. A chest tomb without an effigy is let into the north wall of the chancel. C18 slate wall tablets are also present. The unusual feature of nave wall lighting at the chancel end is noted as rare in the West Country. The church was formerly known as the Church of St Peter the Apostle.