Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is an Anglican parish church dating back to the 13th century, with significant additions and alterations in the 14th and 15th centuries. A mid-19th century restoration saw the addition of a north aisle, and further work occurred in the early 20th century. The building is constructed of coursed and squared rubble, with some ashlar, freestone dressings, coped verges, and slate roofs. It comprises a nave, chancel, north and south aisles, a south chancel chapel, a south porch, and a west tower. The architecture is predominantly Perpendicular.

The two-stage west tower has bold detailing, angle buttresses, an embattled parapet, corner pinnacles, and a stair turret. It features large gargoyles, carved corbels beneath the parapet depicting foliage and human heads – including depictions of Prebendary Richard Harewell (1366-1435) and Thomas Paulton, Archdeacon of Taunton (1395-1416) – and angels with carved arms. The bell chamber has two-light square-headed openings with louvres, a lancet window to the west, a three-light west window, and a west door.

The nave has three bays, and the south aisle also has three bays with three-light windows. A two-light window with flowing tracery is located to the west. The continuous south chapel is single bayed, with an aisle and matching parapet and coping. The south porch has diagonal buttresses, a parapet, coping, and a benched interior laid with flagstones, also including a stoup. The three-bay gabled north aisle incorporates three-light windows in a neo-Perpendicular style. The short, single-bayed chancel has a three-light east window.

The interior features a scraped flagstone floor. The nave roof is arch-braced and collar-bearing, dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries, while the south aisle and chapel have a lean-to roof with moulded ribs. The north aisle and chancel have a plastered ceiling. A simple chamfered tower arch, a chancel arch, and a south arcade all share a similar Perpendicular style, with piers of four-hollows section; a 19th century north aisle arcade is also present. A hagioscope connects the spaces. A blocked 13th-century window can be found in the chancel, along with a cusped rere arch. There’s an early piscina, an octagonal Perpendicular font with enriched panels, and a fine coeval tester. The church also features 15th-century pews with traceried ends, some good copies, Jacobean altar rails and a pulpit, a 19th-century box pew, lectern, and organ. Early bells are also present, as are 18th-century and early 19th-century wall monuments. Late 19th-century stained glass is in the east window, the rest of the openings being leaded and plain.