Church Of St Martin

Church of St Martin

This is an Anglican parish church of 14th and 15th-century date, substantially restored in the 19th century. It is constructed in coursed and squared lias and Hamstone stone, with tile and lead-sheeted roofs finished with coped verges. The chancel is topped with a cruciform finial.

The church comprises a nave with north and south aisles, a chancel, north and south chancel chapels, an east vestry, and a west tower. The style is predominantly Perpendicular Gothic.

The west tower is a very elaborate structure of three stages. It has an embattled pierced parapet with corner pinnacles accompanied by secondary and intermediate pinnacles. Below the parapet runs a quatrefoil band, and further quatrefoil bands appear at plinth level and halfway up the first stage. The set-back buttresses terminate at the second stage with shafts topped by pinnacles that ascend to the third stage. Gargoyles project from the tower. The bell-chamber has paired two-light windows with Somerset tracery and quatrefoil grilles, with transoms and flanking shafts crowned by pinnacles. A clock occupies two faces of the tower. The ringing-chamber stage contains a large transomed window with quatrefoil grilles and Somerset tracery, flanked by crocketed niches with figures (one missing, some damaged). The bottom stage has niches for figures, of which two to the west flank the doorway; modern figures to the south include a war memorial and four relief achievements. The west window is of five lights with transoms, Perpendicular tracery, foliate spandrels, and a pair of ribbed and studded doors beneath an emphasised opening. A polygonal stair-turret projects to the north.

The aisles are of four bays with three-light traceried Perpendicular windows under labels and supported by buttresses. A tomb recess occupies the south-west corner. North and south doorways are present, and a rood-turret to the north has battlements. The south aisle is embattled with large gargoyles. Its two-storey porch has buttresses and a small two-light front-facing window, with a stair-turret and embattled parapet carrying a central figure of the crucifixion and finial. The outer door opening has simple double-chamfered reveals. Inside the porch stands a fine pair of 18th-century wooden dog gates with wrought-iron cresting, set on flag-stone floors. The roof is 19th-century work. The moulded inner door opening has carved heads as label stops and an early ribbed and studded door; above it sits a cusped niche.

The south chapel continues the south aisle line, embattled with gargoyles and fenestrated by three and four-light windows. The north chapel is a single bay of exceptional quality, lit by four and five-light mullioned and transomed windows with fine tracery. The chancel has very large five-light transomed windows with tracery to north and south, a further five-light east window, a pierced parapet, and gargoyles. The single-storey east vestry has a pierced parapet, gargoyles, and two and four-light windows.

The interior sits on flag-stone floors with plastered walls throughout. All roofs are 19th-century work: the nave has a wagon roof with carved banding resting on medieval angel corbels; lean-to roofs cover the aisles with ribbing; a lean-to roof spans the south chancel chapel on medieval angel corbels; and a tie-beam roof covers the north chapel, though medieval work may be incorporated. An elaborate fan-vault springs beneath the tower.

The tower arch is panelled with east buttresses set unusually far into the nave for structural security. It is decorated with two tiers of niches, and a second panelled arch is struck between them. The 14th-century aisle arcades comprise four bays of octagonal piers with moulded capitals. The late Perpendicular chancel arch is lofty and slender with foliate banding to its capitals. The paired arches to the chancel chapels are similarly proportioned with four-centred arch heads. A panelled arch separates the aisle from the north chapel, whilst the arch between aisle and south chapel is supported on two angel busts.

The rood screen is a very fine example of 15th-century work, restored in 1955. It comprises five bays with tall four-light sections, the middle mullion of each reaching into the apex. Each four-light arch contains two sub-arches, and the cornice carries two leaf friezes.

The font is a 14th-century example with re-cut octagonal form and a large late 19th-century tester. A piscina serves the north chapel. The altar table is dated 1728. A chest is dated to the Jacobean period. Substantial mid-19th-century furnishings include pews, box pews, pulpit, choir stalls, altar rails, and an altar table. Painted decoration appears at the east end. Two 18th-century and two 19th-century wall monuments are present. Fragments of 15th-century stained glass remain in the top lights of chapel and chancel windows. The east window contains mid-19th-century glass. A north aisle window dated 1915 depicts St Martin. Other windows have plain leaded lights. A 19th-century wheeled bier and an early 20th-century organ are also present in the church.