Church Of St Anne

Church of St Anne

Parish church, founded in the 13th century with significant 15th-century work. The building underwent a substantial restoration in 1852–3 by Paxton and Stokes, and the chancel was rebuilt in 1911. It is constructed of coursed sandstone and sandstone ashlar, with roofs hidden behind crenellated parapets.

The church comprises a northwest steeple, a clerestoried nave with aisles, a south porch, a chancel, and a south vestry. The 13th-century tower stands at the west end of the north aisle in two stages divided by a chamfer, with angle buttresses. The north face is blind and carries a square clock face dated 1759. The west face has a pair of trefoiled lancets with a single lancet above. The south face is partly engaged by the nave and features a single chamfered doorway. The east face shows the gable line of the former nave roof and bears a circular clock face inscribed "VICTORIA 1897". The stone broach spire has 2-light gabled lucarnes positioned low down and small single-light lucarnes above, with a weathervane.

The north aisle comprises two bays with 19th-century Gothic 2-light windows with bar tracery. At its east end is a buttress of two set-offs and a 2-light east window with 19th-century bar tracery. The tall chancel, rebuilt in 1911, features windows with bar tracery: two 2-lights to the north, one 2-light to the south, and a 3-light to the east, all with hoodmoulds and headstops. Low buttresses with two set-offs support the walls. The south aisle has a 2-light west window with Decorated tracery. A gabled porch to the south presents a plain double-chamfered entrance with flanking buttresses, and its walls carry a single-light window and a 2-light window, both flat-arched and deeply set with cusped ogee lights. The south vestry to the east continues the aisle line and features a similar 2-light window and a plainly chamfered priest's doorway, with a 2-light window with bar tracery to the east. The nave's west window is a 3-light of 19th-century date. The nave clerestory has three windows to the north and four to the south, all flat-arched with two cusped arched lights with short mullions rising from the apex of the arch. Two similar clerestory windows appear on the south side of the chancel. Battlements and crocketed pinnacles crown the nave, chancel, and aisles.

Interior features include a moulded and filleted south doorway with a studded oak door. The porch retains stone seats and a 15th-century roof with moulded and chamfered beams. A grave cover with a floriated cross and other fragments have been reset in the west wall. The nave arcades comprise three bays with circular piers (one octagonal pier to the north) and polygonal responds, with moulded capitals and double-chamfered arches. A 19th-century double-chamfered tower arch has an inner order on moulded polygonal capitals and polygonal responds. The chancel features a two-bay south arcade with an octagonal pier and polygonal responds, similarly moulded capitals and double-chamfered arches. A 19th-century marble pulpit carries a carved quatrefoil with the Lamb of God and is entered from the nave by steps through a doorway in the north aisle. The font is plain and octagonal. Early 20th-century chancel furnishings include choir stalls, clergy desks, and communion rails. A good Decorated-style screen with cornice and parapet is present, along with a brass eagle lectern. Most windows contain 19th-century stained glass; the finest is in the west window, dated circa 1859 and possibly by Wailes. Benefaction boards are displayed at the west end of the north aisle.