Parish Church Of St Mary Magdalene

The parish church of St Mary Magdalene is a complex building with origins dating back to around 1100. The chancel was remodelled in the 14th century (c1340), and the nave windows are also from around this time, largely restored. A west tower was added in the late 15th century. The church is constructed from limestone rubble with dressed quoins, and has old tile roofs.

The church comprises a two-bay chancel, a four-bay nave, a west tower, and a 19th-century north porch. The chancel’s east window has three lights with intersecting tracery, and the east bay has a window of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil and tracery. A south-west window features Y tracery, and a north-west window is low-set with chamfered jambs and a square head. The nave has two two-light windows; the north-east window has moulded caps to nook shafts and a moulded rere arch inside. Doorways exist between the windows, and the north doorway shows evidence of a round-arched doorway from around 1100 above it. The north walls of the chancel and nave display herringbone coursing.

The west tower is of one stage with two sloping buttresses. A diagonal stair turret is located at the south west. The tower has an embattled parapet. The west door and west window have three cinquefoiled lights and tracery. The ringing chamber has small square-headed windows, and the bell chamber has two two-light square-headed windows.

Inside, the chancel has a 19th-century panelled wagon roof supported by heavy stone corbels. The west wall above the chancel arch features 18th-century wall tablets. The north part of the chancel’s west wall shows herringbone masonry. The four-bay 15th-century nave roof has a moulded wall plate, tie beams, and queen posts. At the east end, a short bay has cambered tie beams with wall brackets and curved braces, likely originally intended to form a canopy over the Rood. It is boarded at a lower level than the rest of the roof. A font with a plain octagonal bowl on a tapering stem is also present. A piscina in the chancel, dating from the 14th century, has a cinque foil head and a stone shaft with an original drain. A pulpit dated 1626 is hexagonal, with plain moulded panels and a simple carved frieze. The arms of George III are displayed on the south wall. The walls of the nave are lined with raised and fielded panelling to dado level. A screen constructed of 17th-century panelling is located in the tower arch.