Church Of St Michael

The Church of St Michael is a church dating from the 12th to 15th centuries, with additions from the 17th century. Date stones indicate construction in 1654 and 1871. The building is constructed of squared coursed limestone, with a slate and lead roof. It comprises a chancel, a south vestry, a nave and clerestory, north and south aisles, a south porch, and a west tower. The east window of the chancel is Decorated in style, with three lights and reticulated tracery. A blocked doorway is present in the north wall, featuring a plain pointed arch and a stone hood. A 14th-century trefoil-headed lancet window is located in the south wall. To the right is the head of a Decorated window with reticulated tracery; the lower section now forms a doorway into the late Perpendicular south vestry, which was reputedly built as a schoolroom in the 17th century. This vestry has windows with three and four arched, uncusped lights under square heads, and a doorway with a four-centred arch in its west wall. The south aisle contains Decorated and Perpendicular windows of two and three lights, dating to the 13th century. The south doorway has responds with a pair of detached shafts. The porch was rebuilt in 1871 (the date stone being incorporated), reusing 13th and 14th-century materials. The west tower has three stages and a castellated parapet, with two-light Perpendicular bell openings. On the south face of the central stage is a sundial bearing the Egerton coat of arms and the date 1654, alongside a plaque listing the names of church windows and recording repairs to the tower. A 12th-century west doorway has a plain round arch. In the north aisle, there are two Decorated two-light windows with reticulated tracery (now renewed). A similar three-light window is found in the east wall, and a Perpendicular two-light window is located in the west wall. There is a turret with stairs to a former road loft located between the north aisle and the chancel. Perpendicular clerestory windows have two cusped lights with square hoods. The interior features an early 13th-century south arcade with three bays, displaying pointed double chamfered arches and round piers; one capital is carved with stiff leaf, the other is moulded. The north arcade is similar, with one capital bearing a primitive stiff leaf carving and the other being moulded. Lead corbels in the clerestory are Perpendicular. There is a plain 12th-century tower arch. A monument commemorating George Rush, who died in 1806, stands within the church—it was signed by Charles Regnart of London and takes the form of a free-standing sarcophagus with a life-size white marble figure reclining in loose robes, with slippers on feet and a Bible in hand. This is considered a masterpiece by R. Gunnis. Also present is a wall tablet representing Henrietta and Catherine Rush, who died in 1801, featuring mourning women and an urn. Stone wall tablets from 1684 and 1694, with inscriptions in oval frames adorned with scrolls, cherubs and swags of fruit, are also located in the chancel.