Church Of St Thomas A Becket

The Church of St Thomas a Becket is a church that features a 15th-century tower, with the rest of the building constructed in 1902 by C. Hodgson Fowler in the Perpendicular style. It is built of coursed squared gritstone and ashlar, topped with a grey slate roof. The structure includes a three-stage west tower, a four-bay nave with a south aisle and porch, and a two-bay chancel with a south vestry.

The tower has full-height stepped diagonal buttresses and a fine west door set in a hollow-moulded Gothic arch with a hoodmould. Above this door is a restored three-light pointed Perpendicular window. The south face features a three-light window with reticulated tracery in the center stage, and there are three-light pointed Perpendicular belfry windows on each side, all with hoodmoulds. The tower also has an eaves string course, a battlemented parapet with central triangular pilasters, and a weather-vane.

The south porch has a chamfered arch that may contain reused masonry, and its side walls display medieval and 17th-century inscriptions and tomb slabs. The nave, vestry, and chancel windows have flat, segmental, and pointed arches respectively, all featuring Perpendicular style tracery, mostly in three lights, and all with hoodmoulds. A string course runs at eaves level of the porch and continues around the sill level of the south and east sides of the aisle. The south vestry has a pointed south door, and the east end features gable coping and a finial.

Inside, there is a very tall double-chamfered arch leading to the tower's east wall, with the roof line of the earlier nave visible above. Near the door stands a large bowl-shaped font on an octagonal base, which has a roll moulding at the base. The south aisle is lined with fine panelling dating from the late 17th century, and the pews likely include reworked seating from the same period. A notable feature is a large white marble monument to Amy Woodforde Finden, a popular musician who composed the Indian Love Lyrics, sculpted by George Wade, with a design likely by Judini. Additionally, a small brass depicting a merchant from around 1360 is inscribed in memory of Andrew Dixon, who died in 1570, located on the north wall of the chancel.