Church Of St Michael

The Church of St Michael is a parish church dating to the mid-12th century, with significant additions and alterations made in the 19th century. It comprises a nave, a central tower, and a chancel, with a 19th-century south porch and a vestry of 1910. The building is constructed of coursed lime and ironstone rubble, with dressed stone quoins and 19th-century buttresses, all set beneath tiled roofs. The architectural style is Romanesque.

A sill course with zig-zag ornament runs around the exterior, alongside a corbel table featuring rectangular blocks, some with carved heads. Round arched windows are adorned with chevron ornament to both arch and jambs. The west wall of the nave has a triple arcade of moulded arches with chevron decoration on plain shafts and piers, with carved capitals. The central arch incorporates a doorway; the outer arches are blind, and the inner order of the arch is continued down the jambs, with spiral shafts and carved capitals. Smaller arches are cut into the tympanum, featuring carved winged figures. A single window is situated above the arcade. The nave has two bays of windows to the east, while the west bay has much-restored doorways with chevron arches on shafts. The north door displays an outer band of stepped ornament and carved caps, while the south door has a band of ball ornament with a carved figure at the left end. The 19th-century porch features a chevron arch on paired shafts. The tower has arched windows to the north and south, with small slit windows above. The bell-chamber is characterized by a blind arcaded frieze with interlaced chevron arches on engaged shafts, the central arch being open and louvred. A plain 19th-century parapet is present, adorned with carved gargoyles at the corners and centres of each side. A 14th-century square projection creates a stair turret at the north-east corner.

The chancel is a single bay, notable for its elaborate 19th-century buttresses with shafts. The east wall features a triple arcade with paired shafts and a central window; the outer panels are blind, and the arches are ornamented with chevron and rosette motifs, supported by plain shafts with scalloped capitals. A slit window is set within the gable.

Inside, the sill course displays zig-zag ornament. Windows feature chevron decoration to the arches and jambs. The tower and chancel arches are further distinguished by an inner order of beakhead ornament and an outer order of chevron, both on plain shafts with carved or scalloped capitals. The nave and tower have 19th-century roofs, while the chancel has a groin vault with chevroned ribs on shafts with scalloped capitals, and reconstructed soffits displaying 19th-century painted scroll ornament. A pointed chamfered arch with a hoodmould is recessed into the south wall of the chancel, and the sedilia retains its original shaped stone armrest. An early 20th-century arch leads to the vestry, alongside a 19th-century aumbry and tiles to the east wall.

The church also contains a 12th–13th century tub font on moulded steps, a panel on the north wall of the chancel with fragments of 14th–15th century carving featuring partly painted stone figures of the Virgin and Child, angels, and a half-figure of a man, a 19th-century Neo-Romanesque pulpit, a west gallery designed by G.F. Bodley in 1908, an east window with glass dating to 1844, and various other fittings from the 19th and early 20th centuries.