Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a church dating back to the 12th century, with significant additions and alterations in the late 13th and 14th centuries. The tower was rebuilt in 1880-83. The church is constructed of regular coursed and squared coursed limestone with ironstone dressings, an ashlar spire, and a lead and plain-tile roof. It comprises an aisled nave, chancel, west tower, and a south porch.

The south elevation of the chancel has a two-window range with 2- and 3-light Decorated square-headed windows. A tall, low-side lancet window to the left is partially blocked. This side features a steep gabled roof with ashlar parapets, and a 3-light east window with reticulated tracery and a carved label stop. The north side of the chancel is similar to the south, with two 2-light square-headed windows. The south aisle has a two-window range of 3-light windows, one with reticulated tracery and the other with a square head. It also features a 3-light east window and a single quatrefoil west window, with ashlar gable parapets and a lean-to roof. A 14th-century gabled porch is located centrally, featuring a moulded outer arch with a niche above and a deeply moulded inner arch designed to accommodate two orders of shafts. The north aisle has a three-window range of 2- and 3-light square-headed windows, a 2-light east window, and a north door opening to the right, also with ashlar gable parapets and a lean-to roof. The nave clerestory consists of a three-window range of 2-light square headed windows.

The west tower is of three stages, with four-stage clasping buttresses to the lower two stages. The west door is Perpendicular, featuring decorated spandrels and a 2-light ogee headed window above. A plain round-headed window is located in the second stage. Twin bell chamber openings are separated by a polygonal shaft and incorporate a round hood mould with nail-head decoration on each face of the third stage. Above is a corbel table and a broach spire with two tiers of lucarnes. The date 1883 and a mason’s mark are visible on the north-west buttress.

Inside, the nave arcade has double-chamfered arches supported by octagonal piers, without responds at the east and west ends. There is a double-chamfered chancel arch and a 12th-century single-stepped half-round tower arch with plain responds. 19th-century roof structures are present. A 14th-century screen has 4-light divisions, with the main mullion extending to the apex of the four-centred arch and incorporating ogee arches above. Painted dado panels and square-topped benches with buttress shafts are also featured. A stained glass east window from 1859 by W. Holland, and another 19th-century stained glass window in the north aisle, are present.