Restoration

There has been a church on this site for over 1000 years and for 700 of these the current tower has formed the most noticeable landmark in the area. Whilst the details of its building might be lost in the annals of history there are stylistic clues in the way it is constructed that suggest it was built in the late 14th or early 15th century.

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As you can imagine there have been many repairs and modification over the centuries. The most notable being the rebuilding of the upper part including the balustraded parapet after it was damaged in a storm in 1676. An engraved stone over the west clock face tells the names of the men responsible for this work – Samuel and Thomas Richards

The tower was not specifically included in the rebuilding of the church which took place in 1859/61 but some modifications are visible. The access to the spiral staircase leading to the ringing chamber was originally from the choir vestry but has been moved outside, probably together with the work on the northeast corner of the tower necessitated by the raising of the main church roof.

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In  2017/18 major work was carried out on the gutter between the main church roof and that of the north aisle. During this work opportunity was taken to repair the stonework on the lower part of the tower, work required to repair the centuries of weather damage to the stone.

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This work was completed in 2025 when over 180 stones higher up the tower  were refaced or replaced as well as numerous other stones being given conservation treatments.

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It is not known when the first clock was installed in the tower but the design of its face is for  a clock with only an hour hand. Minute hands were not introduced until after 1680 and not common until 1720s. The current clock was installed, with two additional faces, in 1914. These three faces were repaired and restored during the 2025 work.

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The scaffolding required for the 2025 work enabled close inspection of many aspects of the tower previously unseen from the ground.

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Replacing of the temporary roof showed evidence of a previous curved roof. This gave an explanation for the placing of the gargoyles on the north and south faces of the tower. 

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High on the southwest buttress is carved the name John, presumably of a previous stonemason. The script used would suggest an early date for this graffito.

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A ring of small square holes around the upper tower were identified putlog holes for wooden scaffolding.

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We give thanks to The Heritage Lottery Fund

and the players of the National Lottery for the

grants in 2017 and 2024 which made these

conservation activities possible.