Church of St. Mary

Church of St. Mary

This church comprises a tower, nave and chancel, with a chapel to the north and a former porch and transept to the south. The layout is distinctive, with the north chapel overlapping the nave considerably. The tower is built from irregularly coursed stonework with selected larger stones at the quoins, while the rest of the church uses smaller stones, also irregularly coursed. Only the former porch has larger stones at its quoins. The east wall has a slight batter at its foot, and the east face of the chancel and chapel is rendered.

The roof is covered in thick slates with coped gables throughout. A carved stone cross finial sits at the east end, and a stump of a cross marks the east end of the nave.

The windows are generally in pairs, with trefoiled and ogee-headed lights beneath lintels. Only the window to the west of the tower has a hoodmould. Single trefoiled lights appear to the south of the chancel, to the east and west of the south transept, and in two windows of the north wall of the chapel. A small trefoil feature is also worked into the gable above the east window. In the former porch, a square-headed light occupies the centre of the blocking of the old archway, with the carved jambs preserved to a height of about one metre.

The nave doors to north and south are opposite each other; the southern door now serves the vestry in the former porch. The most elaborately moulded door is that in the base of the tower, evidently intended as the principal entrance during restoration.

The tower is slightly tapering, with a battered plinth below a string course near the base. A stairs turret projects at the northeast corner, extending north only and matching the height of the main tower, creating a broad face towards the nave. A continuous corbel course runs at the base of the parapet, with crenellations above. Corner buttresses in the parapet suggest lost finials. Paired belfry lights facing east, west and south take the form of small lancets, while a single square-headed light faces north. The stairs are lit by slits.

Interior

The nave and chancel have the same width and are connected by a large north chapel opening to both. A small south transept and vestry occupy the former south porch. The nave is narrow with two blocks of pews. Two steps descend from the north doorway, while the tower base sits two steps above the nave. The entire body of the church was re-roofed during the 19th-century restoration with braced collar-beam trusses. The only vault is the base storey of the tower, which opens directly into the nave. The chancel is level with the nave, but three steps lead up to the sanctuary.

The chancel arch is high and wide with a pointed form and late gothic undulating mouldings. Corbels of the former rood loft remain in place, with additional corbels in the left wall at the opening.

The north aisle chapel is separated from the chancel by two pointed arches rising from a round column and half-columns with simple caps. The columns are scraped stonework, while the arches are rendered with chamfers. Five corbels from the former roof structure survive in the south wall.

Beside the north door is a stoup with a second recess in the wall above it. A carved pulpit stands to the right, and a carved lectern depicting St George stands to the left. The font, positioned near the door, is square with only a line at the edges as decoration and has probably been scraped. It rests on a circular pillar and plinth set on a small square base.

The chancel floor is paved in encaustic tiles. The altar is fronted by hardwood rails without a gate, standing on good decorative wrought iron standards. A carved gothic-style reredos backs the altar. The east window contains the only stained glass in the church, evidently contemporary with the restoration, unsigned and anonymously donated. Two corbels from the former roof structure remain in the north wall. The north chapel now functions as a Lady Chapel, with sanctuary fittings brought from the closed mission chapel of St Mary at Kilgetty, which was dedicated in 1893 and closed in 1986. Opposite the chancel arch are the steep stairs providing rood access and a high-level opening into the nave.