Church of St Paul

The Church of St Paul is a late 18th-century church constructed of grey-brown stone with bathstone dressings and tiled roofs, except for the broach spire which has small slates. The church comprises a nave, chancel, north and south aisles, and a tower surmounted by a broach spire. A polygonal stair tower is located to the northeast. The tower’s bell stage is constructed of ashlar, as is the stair tower, and incorporates two-light louvred windows and diagonal buttresses. A window and doorway are set into the west side of the tower. The west window of the south aisle features two lights with flowing tracery. The south aisle also has a shallow stone porch with two-light windows with flowing tracery to each side, a broad four-light window, and two lancets to the right, with a basement door below. A foiled rectangular window with a dripmould, featuring head stops, is present in the east gable of the south aisle. Attached to the angle between the chancel and the south aisle is a flat-roofed vestry constructed from matching materials. The east window of the chancel has three lights with geometrical tracery. The north chancel wall has two trefoil lancets and a two-light window with geometrical tracery. The east gable of the north aisle contains an upper window with perpendicular tracery, serving as an organ loft window, and a lower window with geometrical tracery. The north elevation features two lancets, followed by a three-light window with geometrical tracery. To either side of the north porch are two-light windows with geometrical tracery. The north porch, which was under repair at the time of inspection, has an open gable with cusping and an exposed collar and tie-beam truss with raking struts to the collar. It features an arched entrance flanked by traceried lights, with traceried open sides of five bays. A Gothic entrance doorway leads into the church. The west window of the north aisle has a two-light window with perpendicular tracery.

The interior is spacious and features an open, arch-braced roof across the nave, aisles, and chancel. The nave consists of five bays, supported by octagonal piers with ball-flower capitals. A tall tower arch is present. The south aisle windows contain good 19th-century stained glass. The southeast aisle chapel has Gothic screens and doors and contains Vivian memorials, including Gothic recessed tombs, statues, and brass tablets. The chapel’s east window is fitted with stained glass. The north aisle displays a war memorial tablet, and houses wooden Gothic screens to the northeast chapel, which incorporates an organ loft above. The chancel contains Gothic choir stalls, sedilia to the south wall with a corbelled choir loft above, a coloured marble reredos, and mosaics depicting Saints John, Mary, Cecilia, and King David. Stained glass is fitted to the east window. A polygonal wooden pulpit rests on a stone base with stairs. The interior also features tiled floors and polished oak pews.