Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a Grade I listed building located in Great Casterton. It dates back to the 13th century, with a 14th-century tower and later clerestory, and has undergone restoration. The church is constructed of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings. Although the low-pitched roofs are not visible, the coping of an earlier roof can still be seen on the east face of the tower.

The structure includes a nave with aisles, a chancel, a west tower, and a south porch, all featuring embattled designs. A 20th-century vestry is located to the west of the porch. The tower is characterized by angle buttresses, two-light Decorated bell-openings, a weathervane, corner pinnacles, and a northeast stair turret. The chancel windows consist of lancets and triple lancets with hood-moulds, while the east end has two recessed lancets flanked by shafts with stiff-leaf capitals and a niche containing a statue of St Peter above. The aisle windows are composed of three lights with intersecting tracery, and the clerestory features encircled trefoils.

The north aisle has a blocked doorway, and the south aisle contains both exterior and interior tomb recesses. The exterior recess holds a coffin lid with a figure carved in high relief, while the interior recess features an effigy of a priest. The south porch has a sundial above the arched entrance, which is supported by cylindrical engaged shafts with stiff-leaf capitals. Inside, there is a pointed chancel arch with polygonal shafts and capitals, and a restored 15th-century roof. Corbels from a previous roof remain at the base of the clerestory.

The tower, which has a rectangular plan, includes inner walls on the north and south that enclose a square space covered by a star-shaped vault, supported by corbels shaped like helmets and shields. Arches to the north, south, and east are carried on polygonal shafts with embattled capitals. The church also features a Norman font, square in plan, carved with a lozenge pattern, and an 18th-century pulpit and communion rail. The north aisle retains red painted outlining that imitates masonry, with each 'block' painted with a five-petalled flower.