The Parish Church Of St Mary

The Parish Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building dating from the 11th to 12th century. It is constructed of flint with a stone slate roof and features a chancel, a north transept with its own north aisle, a south transept with a baptistry to the north, a nave, a west tower, and the ruins of a chapel at the northwest end of the nave. The tower, built entirely in the early 11th century, is the only English example of a Saxon tower with a four-sided shingled roof, known as a 'Rhenish helm'. The rest of the church is primarily late 12th century, with late 15th or early 16th century windows. The northwest chapel was constructed by the Knights Templar after 1154 as a separate chapel and was integrated into the church by the Knights Hospitallers in the 14th century. It fell into ruins shortly after the dissolution of that order in 1538. The church also contains important examples of Saxon sculpture.