Church Of St Paul

The Church of St Paul is a church constructed between 1664 and 1671, with alterations and additions made in 1768. It was commissioned for Peter Barwick and funded by a bequest from Dean John Barwick. The church is built of roughcast stone rubble with ashlar dressings and a slate roof. It comprises a single-vessel nave and chancel, a west tower, a north vestry, and a south porch.

The exterior features include slate slabs at the base of the south and east facades and a modillioned cornice to the south facade. Straight-headed, double-chamfered-mullioned windows with three lights are situated on the north and south facades; the upper portions of these windows, above the transoms, were added in 1768. The south facade features a gabled porch with a coped gable and ball finial. The entrance to the porch has a round-headed arch with continuous moulding and a studded wooden door with strap hinges and a lock. A similar entrance between the first and second windows is accompanied by an ogee-headed plaque inscribed with details about Reverend John Barwick. The north facade has a small pulpit window between the second and third windows, framed with a two-light wooden mullion and leaded glazing. A small gabled vestry to the east has a pointed entrance to the west and a three-light round-headed window with leaded glazing and an opening light. The east facade presents a segmental-headed window of five stepped lights, with a round-headed section above and below the transom, capped with a hoodmould, and a ball finial to the gable. The west tower possesses a stepped base and a projecting embattled parapet. It features a window of two round-headed lights, leaded glazing, and an opening light on the west face; the second stage has similar single lights on the west and north, with a square clock face with a single hand dating to 1731 on the south. The top stage has openings of two round-headed lights with slate louvres, and two rainwater heads to the west.

Inside, the church features a coved ceiling with a cornice and a ceiling rose. An Ionic screen of two columns and pilasters is found at the east end. The entrance to the tower baptistry has an architrave, frieze, and modillioned cornice. A plain round font sits on a square base. A late 17th-century pulpit, complete with relief panels and a 19th-century tester, and a reading desk constructed from matching panels, were repurposed from a former three-decker pulpit. Painted boards displaying the arms of Barwick and Derby, the Royal arms (1710), and a record of repairs from 1768 are present. Pews and choir stalls, dating to 1880, display relief panels and ball finials. A wooden memorial to Ann Thornborrow (1770) features an architrave, frieze, and a broken pediment. A marble effigy of Geoffrey Stanley, who died in 1871, is also present, alongside an alabaster memorial to the Earl of Derby, who died in 1908. The church also includes an arcaded altar rail and a Jacobean-style reredos, both from 1880. Boards displaying the Lord's Prayer, Creed, and Commandments are affixed to the walls. A memorial to Dean Barwick with a Latin inscription (1664) and a family memorial to Reverend J. Barwick (1766) are also incorporated. Painted glass in the east window, attributed to Henry Gyles of York, depicts cherubs, the arms of Derby and Barwick, a cross, nails, and an “IHS” encircled by radiating lines and inscribed ribbons. This church is considered a rare example of a church of this date.