Church Of St Mary

Church of St. Mary

Parish Church. 12th century and later, mostly rebuilt in the 19th century. Built in local stone cut and squared with Ham stone ashlar dressings; plain clay tile roofs between stepped coped gables with finials. The building has a six-cell plan, comprising a two-bay chancel, four-bay nave, South transept, South tower incorporating porch, four-bay North aisle and North East corner vestry.

The chancel was rebuilt around 1874 and has a plinth and angled corner buttresses. It contains a five-light late 14th century style traceried pointed arched East window with head stop label, and a smaller two-light 15th century style traceried window with similar label in the South wall. The South transept was probably also rebuilt in 1874; it features angled corner buttresses, a three-light flat headed traceried window in the East wall and a late 14th century pattern geometric-curvilinear traceried three-light window in the South wall, both with head stop labels, with a short buttress beneath the South window.

The nave contains a three-light flat headed traceried window in the South wall with buttresses alongside, and a moulded four-centre arched doorway with square label and square stops and plain spandrels; above this is a late 14th century pattern three-light traceried window. The North aisle was added in 1834 and has a three-light traceried window under an elliptical arch in recess with label and headstop in the West wall; the North wall has four three-light flat headed 19th century traceried windows in recesses with square stop labels. The vestry was added in 1893 with a chevet plan and hipped roof at the East end, entirely 19th century in detail.

The tower is of two stages and 12th century in character, with diagonal offset corner buttresses to the first stage, rough plinth, string courses with corner gargoyles to the upper string and battlemented parapets, with a central timber lead roofed turret. The lower stage has on the South side a plain pointed arch to simple doors set in a deep recess, and above a small cusped lancet without label. In the upper stage are a clockface and a two-light pointed arched window, probably 19th century. The East side has a two-light flat headed window, and the West and North sides have two-light 15th century style windows without labels—all fitted with wood baffles.

Inside, the porch has a tall inner arch of late 12th or early 13th century date. The chancel has a late 19th century elliptical board and rib barrel vault, an elliptical arch to the organ chamber and a 12th century style chancel arch, both probably rebuilt. The communion rail has barley-sugar twist balusters, probably of the Tiffany period. The chancel retains 19th century furniture except for an oak reredos of 1926. The nave has an old waggon roof of curved ribs with boards over, probably 16th century, as is probably the elliptical arch into the South transept, which contains a trefoil arched piscina. In the South west corner of the nave are some oak pews, possibly from the Elizabethan period, and nearby is a 12th century font—lead lined square bowl with arcaded sides on a circular shaft with four snail corner shafts, on a square base, with a font cover of 1897. Also in this corner is a painting of Christ's head on boards, which could be 13th century and is thought to be connected with the Knights Templar, who held the manor. The painting was found hidden in the roof of a village outhouse in 1951.