Church Of St. Mary

Large chancel with original piscina, sedilia and low-side-window (the latter blocked). The paving within the sanctuary is of mediaeval encaustic tiles, many of which are believed to have been taken from Carew Castle. There are three tomb-recesses at the N, and one small one at the S. The vestry was a Carew family chapel and has a pointed stone vault.

Nave with transept arches at each side. That to the N is a true transept, that to the S is simply a bay of the S aisle behind a transept arch and divided from the rest of the aisle by a cross-wall. The N transept is known as the 'Carew Aisle'. W of the transept the arcades are of two arches on octagonal piers and columns. In the S aisle there is a small blocked round-headed recess below the window. The porch is vaulted and has benches and a water-stoup by the door.

The W window is a Crimean memorial of 1857, replacing an original Perpendicular window. At the same date the S windows were restored in similar style. The E window, in Perpendicular style, is by Alexander Gibbs and Co. of London, 1879, in memory of Vicar Phelps, and represents the Resurrection. The N aisle windows are of 1833. The chancel and N transept windows were restored in 1893, and the other transept windows in 1912. The altar and reredos are war-memorials of 1923 by John Coates-Carter.

The monuments include the tomb of Sir Nicholas de Carew, d.1311, builder of the Edwardian castle. This is at the N of the chancel. Opposite it is a child's tomb, or perhaps a heart-burial, with a small female effigy.

In the N transept known as the Carew Aisle is the tomb of Sir John and Elizabeth Carew. It is in Jacobean style with fine simple wrought-iron railings. At the W of the S aisle are two marble monuments with weeping figures, including a fine one to Hannah Brown, d.1845, by J Evan Thomas of London. There are numerous tablets to Allen and other leading families.

In 1844 Vicar Lloyd replaced the Norman font with a copy fashioned of West Williamston limestone.

The church is surrounded by an extensive churchyard, and is central to an important group: other related listed buildings include the old Mortuary Chapel in the churchyard, the old Vicarage, adjacent on the S side, the old Rectory, nearby to the SW, and the almshouses. The church stands on a rise and its appearance on approach is dominated by the bulk of the Perpendicular tower. The nave is comparatively low, as it is roofed separately from the aisles and does not rise above them. Its roof is lower than that of the chancel. There are also a N transept and a S porch. The masonry is generally random rubble in local sandstone, but that of the tower is of higher quality, in courses of varied thickness. The chancel has large stepped buttresses, crossed at the corners. There are similar buttresses to the end of the N transept. Fine Decorated tracery to windows, some re-cut. A blocked original N doorway to the N aisle is seen externally. The tower is of a Somerset type. It is divided by string courses into three main storeys. There are angle buttresses at three corners, and an octagonal stairs turret at the fourth, to the NE. Battlements with large crenellations and a central rib to each face standing on a gargoyle. Coupled belfry lights with louvres and a Tudor hood-mould. It appears to have been built a short distance from the nave and then joined by extending the nave to meet it.