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Grade I listed

The church is situated to the south of the Saxon Church of St Lawrence. The present church was built around 1150 and originally consisted of a chancel, nave and maybe a tower.
The nave and Chancel date back to Norman times but the chancel was extended eastwards in 1300 and the tower Was rebuilt around 1400.
Only a small fragment of the Norman nave remains in the north- east corner.
Originally there were two chantry chapels which were combined around 1500 to create a North aisle.
The town was very wealthy from the cloth trade at this time, and work may also have included raising the tower to accommodate a ring of five bells. The graceful tower arch is the only remnant of this work.
The tower was struck by lightning in 1612, which destroyed the clock frame and caused a great deal of damage.

Around 1630, the Kingston Chapel to the South was built (now the sacristy) and several years later a gallery and rood screen was erected across the chancel arch, which was later removed. A door still remains.
The present porch was constructed around 1800 replacing an older one.

In the 19th century there was much renovation of the church with rebuilding the columns of the north aisle, replacing the nave ceiling with a wooden one, and the organ was removed to the Kingston Chapel. It is now on the north east of the nave.

The church has a west tower with 8 bells, five-bay nave with a south porch and transeptal south chapel, a north aisle (no south aisle), and three bay chancel without chapels. The chancel has two large arched tomb recesses with effigies. The tomb recesses date from circa 1300, the north recess contains an effigy of a lady, and the south has a cross legged knight.
There is a large squint from the north aisle to the chancel, being some 20 feet long.
The nave arcade was partly rebuilt in 1865 and carved with ribbons winding round two of the piers.

There is a perpendicular font, possibly re-cut.
There are multiple wall memorial tablets in the church, and two brasses, one behind the organ.

One of the stained glass windows contains many Flemish roundels from the 16th century which were collected around 1770, and reset in 1954.

The church was restored in 1865 and reordered in 1975. The church was reordered to its current state in 2016, with a new floor with underfloor heating, toilets and kitchen. The seating is now open plan.

Created: Sat, 23 Mar 2024, Updated: Sat, 23 Mar 2024