Church Of St Martin

Church of St Martin

A redundant church now. Built in the 15th century with 19th and 20th-century restorations. Constructed of ironstone with Welsh slate roofs. The church comprises a 2-bay nave and 2-bay chancel in a single structure with a continuous north aisle, a 3-storey west tower, and a south porch.

Tower: The tower has a hollow-chamfered plinth and stepped angle buttresses. The west doorway is blocked and features a continuously hollow-moulded pointed arch. The ringing-floor window comprises 2 trefoiled lights with a cusped quatrefoil above. Two-light flat-headed belfry openings with trefoil cusps open to the south, while a chamfered single-light belfry opening faces north.

Nave and Chancel: Stepped buttresses support the walls, with the buttress between nave and chancel bearing a sundial. A crenellated parapet rests on an ogee-section string. Windows are hollow-chamfered, flat-headed affairs of 2 segmental-arched cinque-cusped lights, with hood moulds featuring head steps. The south porch has angled buttresses on chamfered bases and a rounded arch with deeply recessed moulding on broached capitals and hood mould. The water table is of original shallow pitch. A 19th-century gable bears a sacred monogram. Each side wall of the nave contains 2 unglazed 2-light flat-headed windows, hollow-chamfered with trefoil heads to the lights and indented spandrels. An internal brick floor and bench tables are present. The inner doorway contains an old door set within a continuously-moulded pointed arch of 2 orders: the outer one a double ogee followed by a deep hollow, the inner one hollow-chamfered, with hood mould and crude head stops.

The chancel windows resemble those of the nave but show more extensive restoration. Its parapet sits at a slightly lower level than the nave. Angle buttresses appear at the east end. The east window is hollow-chamfered, comprising 3 trefoiled lights with Perpendicular tracery in a pointed arch, with crenellations stepped up to the gable.

North Aisle: Built of rubblestone without crenellations. The easternmost window on the north side is flat-headed with large trefoils in 2 lights. The east window comprises 2 cinque-cusped lights with Decorated tracery in a pointed arch. Other north windows match those to the south but lack hood moulds. A blocked north door between the nave aisle windows features continuous chamfering and stops at the bottom, with an uneven rounded arch. The west wall of the north aisle is ashlar with a buttress in the angle with the tower. The west window contains 2 cinque-cusped lights with Decorated tracery in a pointed arch above, hood mould with cube stops.

Interior: The nave arcade consists of 2 double-chamfered arches with an octagonal pier and matching responds. The bases are hollow-chamfered with unusually angular section capitals. Three face masks ornament the western respond capital. The chancel arcade comprises 2 double-chamfered arches, lower and narrower than the nave arches, with an octagonal pier and hollow-chamfered top to the bases. The chancel capitals resemble those in the nave but include a different capital to the west with a torus shape on alternate facets and leaf facing east.

The tall, narrow tower arch is double-chamfered on corbels, with a head on that to the north. A 4-centred rere arch serves the south door, while straight-chamfered segmental rere arches occur to windows. On the north side of the east wall of the chancel stands a Perpendicular doorway with continuous hollow moulding. A piscina on the south wall features an asymmetrical chamfered arch similar to that of the north doorway, with a 19th-century basin and tray. A stoup stands to the right of the east window of the aisle. In the floor below the altar lies a black marble slab indented for 4 coats of arms and inscription.

Furnishings: A 15th-century octagonal moulded font basin sits on a narrow stern. Early 19th-century roof trusses include traceried work between the nave and chancel. A 15th-century chancel screen features cinque-cusped lights below Perpendicular tracery; the top rail is an inverted rood beam morticed for a gallery. A 17th-century screen to the north chapel displays symmetrically-turned balusters above plain panelling. A 17th-century altar table occupies the chapel. An old oak chest and 16th-century oak benches of thick sections without decoration survive. A George III coat of arms dated 1821 hangs above the south door. A cast-iron safe door with ogee-cusped tracery appears on the north wall of the tower.