Church Of Saint Mary

The Church of Saint Mary is a parish church dating back to the early 13th century, with subsequent alterations and additions. It is constructed of local stone, roughly bounded with Ham stone to the chancel, with Ham stone dressings. The roofs are covered in plain clay tiles over three-base courses of stone slates to the chancel, and lead elsewhere, all concealed behind crenellated parapets. The east gable has a coped design with a cross finial.

The church has a cruciform plan, comprising a three-bay nave, a west tower, a south porch alongside a south transept, and a small vestry adjoining the north transept. The tower features angle offset buttresses rising to two-thirds of its height. It has a small, 14th-century traceried two-light west window, followed by lancet slits on the north and south sides at ringing chamber level. Above a string course are two-light, cusped 14th-century traceried windows with pierced timber baffle boards on all four sides. A capping string course supports gargoyles and shallow battlemented copings. A stair turret is present on the north-east corner.

The chancel has a three-light East window with plate tracery set within a nearly semi-circular arched recess, featuring side impost stones but no label. Simple cusped lancet windows with labels and figurehead stops are located in both north and south walls; a simple pointed arched doorway is situated between the windows on the south wall. The south transept has a crude plinth, full-height angled corner buttresses, a high string course with gargoyles, and battlemented coping. Its south window is a three-light 15th-century early pointed arch traceried window, while the east window has a flat-headed three-light window from the late 15th century. The north transept is similar, but its east window is a 19th-century copy.

The nave features full-height buttresses with elaborately moulded offsets and circa 1400 window tracery of a very rural character. The south porch has a segmental pointed arch of two orders to the entrance, a small two-light 15th-century window in the south wall, and stone benches within. The 14th-century doorway into the church has a moulded pointed arch and jambs without capitals, paired with a 17th-century door; a good statue niche is positioned above with a cusped arched head.

Internally, the roofs are of a late 19th-century design. The chancel and south transept arches likely date to the 15th century, featuring small capitals. The tower arch has a distinctly rural character and may be earlier, and the north transept arch is a 19th-century rebuild.

Notable fittings include an early 17th-century pulpit, a collection of bench ends with poppy-heads, two 13th-century piscine, a holy water stoop, a 14th/15th-century octagonal font with crude carved panels, and a 17th-century cover. The church was repaired in 1827, 1875, and 1921; the architects responsible for these works are not recorded.