Church of Saint Mary

The Church of Saint Mary is a rich example of Romanesque style architecture, likely dating to the 12th century, and exhibiting considerable subsequent development. The church is constructed from rock-faced rubble with free-stone dressings, and has leaded roofs. It consists of a nave, a tower over a northwest porch, transepts, and an apsidal chancel.

The three-stage tower incorporates a porch in the lower stage, featuring a round arched outer doorway with chevron moulding and bands, billet moulding to the hood mould, and foliate capitals to shafts. Cast iron, cusped, open-work panelled gates lead to a similar inner archway. The second stage has a narrow round-arched window, and the third stage has tall paired bell-chamber lights with scallop capitals to shafts, divided by red sandstone shafts with bands and foliate capitals to an enriched corbel table. A short spire with arched pinnacles at the angles completes the tower. The west end features stepped round-arched windows with a cable moulded string course and continuous hood mould sprung from outer shafts. A high blind arch sits above the central window, and is topped by a blind traceried rose. The nave is articulated by buttresses, with a round-arched window with banded voussoir head in each bay. A simple corbel table runs along the top of the nave. The south transept has paired round-arched windows linked by a continuous impost band forming a small blind arch between the windows, and a cabled moulded sill band. Similar fenestration is present in the north transept, which has a small gabled porch to the east. The apsidal chancel has foliate capitals to shafts carrying chevron moulded arches over the round-headed windows, with similar moulding surrounding small oculi above the main windows.

Inside the nave, transverse rib vaulting is supported by red sandstone engaged shafts on high bases with trumpet capitals. Similar coupled shafts carry the chancel arch, which is stepped and enriched with foliate bands. The crossing arches are of a similar design. The apse features a banded barrel vault and rib-vaults defining the bays of the east end, which has banded voussoirs to grouped pointed arched windows, the vaulting above them pierced by tiny oculi. Deep, splayed windows in the nave and south transept also have banded voussoir heads. Fittings are largely contemporary, including a pulpit with interlaced tracery and red marble shafts, similar interlace detail to the communion rail, and arcading to the reredos. A fine wrought corona features over the choir. Stained glass is present in the east windows, forming a series depicting undated figures of Love, Faith and Hope, with stars in the oculi above. Windows in the south transept depict Saint Mary Magdalen, dated 1892.