Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is a parish church with origins in the 13th century. Significant additions and alterations occurred in the early 14th century with the aisles, the late 14th century with the south chapel, the late 15th century with the north chapel, and 1509 with the tower. A restoration took place in 1891.

The church is constructed of random rubble chert, with the tower using coursed red sandstone. Ham stone is used for the dressings, and the porch is a combination of Ham stone and local grey sandstone. The roofs are slate with coped verges. The west tower is crenellated, with pinnacles and intermediate corbelled pinnacles. It features diagonal buttressing, string courses, a moulded plinth, a two-light bell opening with Somerset tracery, a small lancet window, and a three-light west window with a continuous hood mould. A moulded, arched, hexagonal stair turret is located centrally on the south face. The south aisle and chapel are also diagonally buttressed and crenellated, containing three-light windows and a single-storey gabled porch with a chamfered arched opening. The porch’s interior is ribbed and barrel vaulted, with a holy water stoup beside a moulded arched inner doorway and C19 double doors. A road stair projection is present, along with three-light windows on the south and east faces of the chapel. The chancel has a priests' door, a three-light window on its south face, a four-light east window, and a lancet on its north face. The north chapel has a three-light east end and three three-light windows on its north wall, with stepped buttressing and a blocked aisle doorway. A single-storey lean-to addition is located at the west end of the north aisle.

Internally, the church is rendered. The octagonal piers carry a two-order chamfered arcade. There are alterations at the crossing and a depressed arch between the south aisle and chapel, and another chamfered in two orders between the chancel and chapel. The north chapel features a Perpendicular arch, and the chancel arch is chamfered with C19 corbelled capitals. The tall tower arch is chamfered in three orders and set on the skew. A stone road stair remains in situ. The chancel has a restored open wagon roof with moulded ribs, bosses, and a crenellated wall plate. The nave has a ceiled wagon roof with a dentil cornice; the south chapel has a four-panel compartment ceiling, and the north chapel a plaster barrel vault with a C19 compartment ceiling to the aisles. The sanctuary incorporates slate slabs commemorating members of the Thurston family, including Malchie, a doctor who died in 1701, Grace, his wife who died in 1700, and Edward, who died in 1683. A four-bay Purbeck-style font with C15 leaf carvings stands within the church, alongside a C19 stone pulpit, pine pews, and cast iron altar rails. Stained glass is present, including a north aisle window designed by Morris and Co in the 1880s. The alterations to the church fabric make tracing its development difficult.