Church Of St Peter And St Paul

Church of St Peter and St Paul, Ormskirk

This parish church has a very complicated history of rebuilding and enlargement spanning from the 12th century onwards. The earliest surviving work is part of the north wall of the chancel, dating to the 12th century. The south arcade of the chancel belongs to the late 13th century, while the late 14th century saw the addition of a steeple at the west end of the south aisle. The 16th century brought the west tower (built circa 1540-50) and probably the Derby and Scarisbrick chapels. In around 1729 the nave and aisles were rebuilt in classical style, though only the south aisle wall survives from this period. Thorough restoration was carried out between 1877 and 1891 by the architects Paley and Austin, who rebuilt the north aisle and nave arcades.

The church is constructed of coursed squared sandstone with stone slate roofs. The plan comprises a nave with west tower, north aisle, south aisle with west steeple, Scarisbrick chapel at the east end of the south aisle, chancel with vestry to the north and Derby chapel to the south. Between the tower and the steeple stands a late 19th-century cast-iron urinal.

The west tower is of massive square plan and three unequal stages (the first forming the lower half). It features diagonal buttresses, a weathered plinth, weathered coping to the first stage, and set-back upper stages with a weathered sillband. An embattled parapet with crocketed pinnacles crowns the corners and centre. The west doorway has a 4-centred arch with three orders of roll-moulding. Above it is a restored Perpendicular 3-light window, with a square-headed looplight to the second stage. The belfry windows are coupled 2-centred arches with three lights, intersecting tracery, and stone louvres. Each of the other three sides has a 3-light window offset eastwards.

The six-bay north aisle, built by Paley and Austin, is buttressed with alternate buttresses carried up as pinnacles dividing the windows into pairs. Large 3-light windows with varied Perpendicular tracery light the aisle. The adjoining two-bay vestry follows the same style. The 18th-century south aisle has three bays and retains its original parapet, which includes a large rectangular sundial forming an upstand with scrolled supporters, though the windows were replaced with late 19th-century 3-light Perpendicular-style windows.

The late 14th-century steeple is attached at the west of the south aisle. It has a square first stage with angle buttresses and a doorway at its base (now enclosed by a late 19th-century shallow angled porch) with a 2-light window above. The second stage is broached octagonal with an oversailing parapet. The octagonal spire was rebuilt in 1832. The Scarisbrick chapel extends eastward from the south aisle, stepped out from it, and features two large 3-light windows with transoms. Beyond it lies the Derby chapel with two large 4-light windows and a very wide 7-light east window with a transom at the springing of the arch and fourteen small round-headed lights above.

The chancel is lit by a 5-light east window with a transom. Incorporated in the masonry below are two carved stones, one depicting a raven and the other bearing two recumbent figures.

The interior contains late 19th-century five-bay aisle arcades of capital-less moulded piers with 2-centred arches moulded in two orders. A broadly-chamfered 2-centred arch connects the steeple to the south aisle. The nave is spanned by a wooden ceiling with carved hammerbeam trusses. On the north side of the chancel is part of the 12th-century wall containing a deeply-splayed Norman window with shafts bearing scallop capitals. The south side features a 13th-century two-bay arcade of double-chamfered 2-centred arches on an octagonal pier and responds with moulded caps. Seventeenth-century parclose screens with turned balusters flank two sides of the Derby chapel. This chapel contains two pairs of mutilated 15th-century alabaster effigies and two tomb chests with panels containing quatrefoils. The Scarisbrick chapel holds a hatchment and a wall monument dated 1737. At the west end of the south aisle are bookshelves with names and the date 1682 in raised lettering. A stone font dated 1661, given by the Countess of Derby, stands in the church. The font has a panelled octagonal basin containing the date, the letters C.R., a cross, an hourglass, and a pelican on a columnar base. The glass in the tower was made by Holliday.