Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a church dating from the 13th to 15th centuries, with significant restoration work carried out in 1878 when the west tower was rebuilt and enlarged, and a new vestry and organ chamber were added. The building is constructed of coursed squared ironstone and coursed ironstone rubble, with a tile roof to the nave and chancel, and lead to other areas. It consists of a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, and a west tower.

The three-bay chancel features an east window of three lights with cusped intersecting tracery, flanked by buttresses. A 3-light straight-headed Perpendicular window with a limestone moulded surround and tracery is located on the south-west side, alongside a double-chamfered priests’ door. Other chancel windows are of two lights with cusped Y-tracery. A C19 vestry and organ chamber are situated to the north-west. The north and south walls show signs of rebuilding.

The nave has a four-window clerestory, with two-light straight-headed Perpendicular windows, with the exception of a one-light north-west window and a simple two-light window recessed in a rectangular frame. Three-window aisles flank the nave; the north aisle has two-light windows with cusped Y-tracery and a chamfered pointed arch representing a blocked north door. The south aisle features two-light straight-headed windows. Both aisles have single lancet windows to the west. A gabled south porch has a double-chamfered door and a tile roof; the door features a moulded arch with hood mould and label stops.

The three-stage west tower incorporates diagonal west buttresses, a moulded west door, and a two-light west window with cusped Y-tracery. The belfry stage has two-light windows with foiled Y-tracery. Plain parapets are present on the north and south aisles, while the west tower has a battlemented parapet. A single-story lean-to store with a tile roof is positioned at the north-east corner of the tower.

Inside, C19 stained glass windows are found in the east and south-east chancel windows. A cusped arch-headed piscina and a raised sanctuary with an encaustic tile roof are also present. The double-chamfered chancel arch has an inner order with polygonal responds. The four-bay nave arcade exhibits a north arcade from the 13th century, characterized by chamfered arches, circular piers, and octagonal abaci; the westernmost pillar has a multi-scalloped capital. The south arcade features double-chamfered arches and octagonal piers. Further C19 and C20 stained glass windows are present in the tower and aisle windows. A squint connects the south aisle to the chancel. A font with an octagonal bowl, potentially dating from the 1660s, is also present, alongside C19 roofs, pews (some with medieval elements), an early 14th-century effigy of a Lady, a brass dating from around 1400, and a wall monument commemorating Mrs Knightley, who died in 1730.