Church Of St Peter

Church of St Peter, Tilton on the Hill

This parish church has fabric spanning the late 12th to 15th centuries. It is built in well coursed ironstone rubble with limestone dressings and comprises a west tower and spire, a nave with clerestory and two aisles, and a chancel.

The tower is of three stages with angle quoins. The lowest stages probably date from the late 12th century and contain a south doorway and lancet window to the west. Lancets also appear in the second stage. The bell chamber above has paired 13th-century lights with plate tracery. An embattled parapet with gargoyles sits below a recessed 14th-century spire, which is articulated with two tiers of lucarnes. The clerestory is Perpendicular, with large three-light windows with transoms forming two tiers and a continuous hoodmould and parapet.

The south aisle dates from the late 13th century and is very wide with a shallow pitched roof. It has three south windows of stepped lancets and a west window of three lancets with a foiled circle above. The south door is a simply chamfered archway with hoodmould and string-course acting as capital. The porch, probably of the 15th or 16th century, has a four-centred archway in a squared hoodmould with a coped gable and a sundial in the apex. The south aisle parapet has a corbel table which continues across the east and west gables. Buttresses are capped by pinnacles and gargoyles, representing Perpendicular re-working. The large four-light east window also dates from this period. All windows have hoodmoulds with corbel heads.

The chancel partly dates from the late 12th century, retaining a priest's door of that period—a small round archway. All other details are Perpendicular: a low side window to the south, a three-light north window with transoms, a south-east window of three lights (square-headed), and an east window of three lights with transom forming two tiers. The parapet and corbel table, with angle buttresses, are also Perpendicular. A blocked late Decorated north doorway, with multiple chamfered archway, is visible. The north aisle is buttressed with pinnacles, gargoyles, and a corbel table below the parapet. Its east window contains two trefoiled lights, while the others are three-light Perpendicular windows.

Inside, the nave has a late 12th-century tower arch which is no longer centrally aligned with the church, featuring shafted responds with stiff leaf capitals and square abaci, and three steps to the arch. The nave arcades comprise five bays, the south being the earlier, late 13th-century arcade. Its square-based octagonal piers support single chamfered arches with chamfered hoodmoulds featuring corbel heads resting on the abaci. The north arcade is similar but slightly later, with double chamfered arches and hoodmoulds springing from higher corbel heads. Another carved head appears at the apex of each arch. Two capitals are elaborately carved: one with winged angels' heads, the other with creeping beasts—a lion, monkey, fox, and lamb. The nave roof has flat tie beams with bosses on struts springing from corbel heads; the roof timbers date from an 1854 restoration, though the bosses and corbel heads appear to be 15th-century. The clerestory retains 18th-century glazing. Windows in the south aisle are set in recesses with slender circular shafts and are linked by a continuous sill course. The east window has 18th-century glazing and some medieval glass fragments. A double piscina with fluted basin is set in paired lancets. An aumbry has a chamfered two-centred arched tomb recess. The north aisle roof is a lean-to with corbel heads.

The chancel has a double chamfered arch with semi-octagonal responds, also not centrally aligned to the nave. Although all chancel windows are Perpendicular, the sedilia predates them and is late Decorated, with three cusped ogee arches. A piscina is present. The 18th-century altar rails are simply turned. A late 16th-century wall memorial tablet of painted marble commemorates Augustin Nichols and his wife, depicting two kneeling figures at a Prie Dieu in an aedicule with twelve children (three in shrouds), surmounted by strapwork with human profiles and a shield of arms. A large 17th-century tomb chest with heraldic emblems in high relief on each side commemorates William Nichols, died 1625.

Other monuments include two chest tombs between the south aisle and nave, to Sir John Digby and his wife, dated 1269, with large effigies: the knight is in chain mail with crossed legs and drawn sword; his wife lies with one arm by her side and one hand clutching a handkerchief, with a very flat face and incised features. Both retain some colour fragments. Against the south wall stands the tomb of Sir Everard Digby, died 1509, featuring a heavily sculpted knight's effigy on a base with shields in quatrefoils and inscription.

The church also contains a stone Victorian pulpit of 1854 and a 12th-century font with a base of eight circular shafts and a square basin with chamfered corners, carved like a cushion capital.