Church Of St Thomas

The Church of St Thomas is a building of group value, dating back to the 12th century, with significant additions and alterations in the 14th and 15th centuries, and a restoration in 1868. It is constructed of coursed squared stone and ashlar, with graduated Welsh slate roofs. The church comprises a 12th-14th century nave with a north aisle, a partly enclosed 15th-century south-west tower in the centre bay of the nave, a 14th-century chancel, and a 19th-century north vestry.

The south-west tower has three stages, with offset diagonal buttresses to the first stage, a plinth, and a board south door set in a chamfered basket-arched surround with a hoodmould and a small niche above. A projection houses a staircase to the east. There is a chamfered band, which is followed by clock faces to the east and west sides and another chamfered band. Cusped, 2-light, flat-head belfry openings are set below an embattled parapet with crocketed pinnacles at each corner, topped with a pyramidal roof and a flagpole.

The nave has three bays, with a plinth, an offset diagonal buttress to the west, and an offset angle buttress to the east. A 3-light reticulated traceried, flat-headed window is on the left, and a similar 4-light window is on the right. Moulded copings finish the parapet. Stone copings define the gable crosses. The north aisle has similar windows to the nave, alongside a blocked, chamfered pointed 13th-century doorway, and a similar pointed 2-light window to the west. A large 4-light pointed reticulated traceried west window with a hoodmould is present on the nave’s west side.

The chancel is a single bay with an offset diagonal buttress to the east end. A priests' doorway is centrally located, within a pointed, chamfered surround. To the left is a small, cusped, 1-light, pointed-arched window and to the right, a 2-light, chamfered, flat-headed window with Perpendicular tracery. The pointed east window has three lights with flowing tracery and a hoodmould, designed in a Decorated style. A plain, chamfered parapet and a stone coping are topped with a gable cross.

The north vestry has a 3-light arched east window. All the windows are 19th-century replacements.

Inside, a 4-bay 12th-century north arcade, raised in the 14th century, features two circular piers with octagonal abaci, one with a waterleaf motif, a 14th-century octagonal central pier with a moulded cap, and stepped round arches. There is a double-chamfered pointed chancel arch. The stained-glass west window is by Kempe, designed after 1886. The church contains three good hogback tombstones, all featuring bears sitting up at either end and facing one another, with Celtic strap motifs between. There is also an Anglo-Danish cross shaft with a head, and a similar cross from the 9th century in the nave.