Church Of St Mary

The Church of St Mary is an Anglican parish church with origins in the 12th century, substantial rebuilding in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and alterations in 1834-9 by Richard Carver, with later 19th-century restoration. It is constructed of random rubble and ashlar with slate and lead sheeting roofs, coped verges, and crenellated parapets. The church comprises a nave, chancel, north and south aisles extending east as chapels that clasp the chancel, north and south porches, a west tower, and an east sacristy, all in the Perpendicular style.

The west tower is a particularly fine example, exhibiting three stages with set-back buttresses topped by three tiers of tall pinnacles, an embattled and quatrefoiled parapet, and quatrefoiled bands between stages. The west doorway is flanked by niches, one containing remains of a figure, with a quatrefoil frieze above and a transomed four-light window. Statuettes are set within niches on the north and south sides of the tower’s lower stage. The second stage features three-light transomed windows with Somerset tracery, while the third stage has elaborate bell openings with Somerset tracery and traceried panelling above. A low stair turret is located to the south. Large windows with pointed arch heads, primarily three and four-lights, are found throughout. A clerestory to the nave contains three-light windows, and the sacristy is a single-story addition.

Inside the north porch, corbels are carved as angels. The interior features a scraped finish under panelled roofs, and the tower has a fan vault. Five bay arcades exhibit piers with a four-hollows section and circular capitals adorned with small rosettes. The tower arch and west arches to the chancel chapels are lofty and of similar design. Arches between the chapels and chancel incorporate busts of angels as east responds. A Perpendicular pulpit, a 14th-century font (the former with fine traceried panels), and a balcony gallery dated 1623, featuring a figure of Father Time, are also present. Carved bench ends in the nave are dated 1596 and 1629, and a carved door provides access to the sacristy. A carved sculpture, known as Samson, surmounts the tower clock, originally having been part of the pulpit. A brass is set into the nave floor commemorating Katherine Morley, obit. 1652, while matrices of two further medieval brasses remain. A fine screen of Perpendicular style, dating to 1909, divides spaces. Some 19th-century stained glass is present, including a window by Kempe and two 20th-century windows by Sir Henry Holiday.