Geograph - photograph every grid square

This church is typical of many in the locality, being built of the rich orange local ironstone with limestone dressings. The soft nature of the ironstone creates a distinctive surface pattern.

The church dates fundamentally from the 13th century, although the section of the west wall of the nave adjacent to the tower may be the remains of an earlier Norman structure with a narrow nave. It is of limestone whereas the remainder of the stonework is all ironstone.

The church consists of aisled nave, chancel, west tower and south porch.

The oldest sections remaining are the late 13th century chancel and aisle arcades of c.1300. The tower is 14th/15th century Perpendicular, and is unusual in being partially set within the nave, and slightly offset so that there is a space between it and the south wall of the nave. The clerestory with its 4-centred arched windows is also probably 15th century.

The church was heavily restored in 1877 by Goddard and Paget of Leicester, and the north aisle is almost entirely of this period. All the roofs date from this period and are probably much higher pitched than those they replaced. This is certainly true of the nave as can be seen on the marks on the wall of the tower inside the church.

The church is Listed Grade II*.

Listed buildings and structures are officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance. There are over half a million listed structures in the United Kingdom, covered by around 375,000 listings.
Listed status is more commonly associated with buildings or groups of buildings, however it can cover many other structures, including bridges, headstones, steps, ponds, monuments, walls, phone boxes, wrecks, parks, and heritage sites, and in more recent times a road crossing (Abbey Road) and graffiti art (Banksy 'Spy-booth') have been included.

In England and Wales there are three main listing designations;
Grade I (2.5%) - exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important.
Grade II* (5.5%) - particularly important buildings of more than special interest.
Grade II (92%) - nationally important and of special interest.

There are also locally listed structures (at the discretion of local authorities) using A, B and C designations.

In Scotland three classifications are also used but the criteria are different. There are around 47,500 Listed buildings.
Category A (8%)- generally equivalent to Grade I and II* in England and Wales
Category B (51%)- this appears generally to cover the ground of Grade II, recognising national importance.
Category C (41%)- buildings of local importance, probably with some overlap with English Grade II.

In Northern Ireland the criteria are similar to Scotland, but the classifications are:
Grade A (2.3%)
Grade B+ (4.7%)
Grade B (93%)

Read more at Wikipedia Link