NETHERBURY

St. Mary

Netherbury is a delightful village of mature cottages and houses set in a valley overlooked by the ancient church.  This very pleasing building is mainly 14c and 15c with some inevitable 19c restoration, when the roofs were renewed.  There is a shallow Norman font where Admiral Sir Samuel Hood (1724-1816), who stood high in the esteem of the Navy, was christened and a 1480 alabaster figure of a knight.  However, the most important item in the church is the magnificent Jacobean pulpit with superb inlaid panel decoration and a pair of highly polished brass banisters leading up to it.