Church Of St Michael The Archangel

The Church of St Michael the Archangel is a parish church dating to the late 15th century, with substantial restoration work carried out in 1879 and 1881. It is constructed of squared millstone grit, with a lead roof to the side aisles, a slate roof to the nave and chancel, and a stone slate roof to the hearse house. The church comprises a two-bay chancel, a four-bay nave, north and south aisles incorporating side chapels, a south porch, a north hearse house, and a west tower.

The east wall of the chancel features a five-light window from 1879, set back by buttresses. The south aisle has buttresses and three-light windows with round heads and hoodmoulds, the hoodmoulds terminating in grotesques. A parapet marks the junction with the Lambert Chapel, which has a pointed arch entrance at its west end, also with a hoodmould. The Lambert Chapel’s east wall has a three-light window with a hoodmould, and a similar window is found in the west wall of the south aisle. The north aisle features buttresses and two-light windows. A blocked pointed arch entrance exists between the two west bays of the north chapel, and a hearse house dating to circa 1850 is situated between the two east bays. The Chapel’s east wall has a window with three lights and a hoodmould. The west wall of the north aisle also contains a two-light window with a hoodmould. The south clerestory has three-light windows with round heads, hoodmoulds, and grotesque stops. The north clerestory windows are two-light, also with hoodmoulds and grotesque stops, but without hoodmoulds on the chancel windows themselves. The embattled parapet drops slightly over the west light of the chancel. The two-stage west tower has diagonal buttresses; its ground-floor west window is from 1879, and has three lights and a hoodmould. A trefoil headed niche above the clerestory level is located on the south side, along with a panel inscribed 'E:IR'. Clock faces are positioned on the east and west sides of the tower. The belfry openings on each side feature three lights which break into four trefoil headed lights, all united by a continuous hoodmould. An embattled parapet tops the tower.

Inside, the nave and chancel have a 15th-century king post roof supported on late 19th-century stone corbels. The north and south aisle roofs are heavily restored, but retain wind braces decorated with flower heads. The first three pillars of both north and south arcades have trefoil headed niches on their west sides, varying in their design. Two piscine in the south aisle indicate the presence of former chapels. Surviving box pews, some dating to the 17th and early 18th centuries, are found in part of the north aisle, with reused components incorporated throughout. A font from the 11th century, with two bands of zigzag moulding on a 19th-century base, stands in the baptistry. The church tower houses three bells, dated 1601, 1617 and 1785.