Church Of Saint Peter

The Church of St Peter is a building of group value, dating from the 13th century with later alterations. The core of the church is the 13th-century nave, with a chancel added in the late 13th century, a 14th-century west tower, and aisles constructed in the 15th century. A south porch was built in 1744. The materials are predominantly ashlar stone, with brick to the chancel and rendered, rusticated brick to the south porch. The roofs are slate-covered. The church comprises a three-stage west tower, a four-bay nave with north and south aisles embracing the tower, and a two-bay chancel. The west tower has diagonal buttresses, moulded strings, slit windows to the second stage, and cusped Y-tracery to the pointed belfry openings, topped by a crenellated parapet. A pointed three-light west window with Perpendicular tracery is set beneath a hood-mould. The nave features a moulded plinth, buttresses with offsets, and a pair of three-light and two four-light windows, all with Perpendicular tracery, set under four-centred arches. Four two-light pointed windows with cusped Y-tracery are found in the clerestory. A pointed south door has continuous filleted roll mouldings, leading to a south porch with double-leaf boarded doors under a segmental head, featuring a keyblock and a datestone indicating the names of churchwardens. The chancel has angle buttresses, a square-headed priests' door beneath a two-light square-headed window, and a square-headed west window of three lights with chamfered mullions. The north chancel wall contains a lancet window to the west and a pointed two-light window with geometrical tracery under a hood-mould featuring face stops. Inside, a pointed double-chamfered tower arch rises to moulded capitals and bases. Similar lower tower arches are visible to the north and south aisles. A projecting semicircular stair-turret extends from the nave and reappears within the tower at a high level as a corbelled-out semicircular projection. The late 13th-century south arcade features pointed double-chamfered arches on octagonal piers and responds, with moulded capitals and waterholding bases. A similar late 14th-century north arcade uses octagonal piers with moulded capitals and hollow chamfered bases. A pointed double-chamfered chancel arch mirrors the style of the south arcade. Within the north aisle, the upper portion of a formerly kneeling alabaster figure of William Thompson, who died in 1637, remains. The south aisle features moulded corbels alternating with simple face-masks, which support the aisle roof upper wall-plate. A late 14th-century south door has wave-moulded boards and a smaller ogee-headed wicket door, secured by original strap hinges.