Church Of St Peter

Church of St Peter

A parish church of 13th, 14th and 15th-century date, with mid-18th-century rebuilding, restoration work in 1875-76, and a 20th-century addition. The building is constructed of coursed limestone rubble and ashlar with ashlar dressings. The nave and chancel have slate roofs, whilst the aisle roofs are lead with ashler coped gables featuring kneelers and cross finials. A double moulded plinth runs to the chancel, with a smaller plinth to the remainder of the building. All window and door openings are detailed with hood moulds and label stops.

The plan comprises a west tower, nave and aisles, south porch, chancel, and north vestry. The west tower was rebuilt in the mid-18th century and displays two clasping buttresses with set-offs and three stages with stage bands. The west face contains a single three-light reticulated tracery window with a pointed arch, constructed from medieval fragments, whilst the third stage has four small pointed-arched bell openings. The tower is topped with stepped battlements and eight pinnacles, with a stair turret attached to its south-east corner.

The north aisle features a three-light reticulated tracery pointed-arched west window. Its north wall has a low pointed-arched doorway to the west and two flat-headed two-light panel tracery windows to the east, separated by buttresses. A two-light reticulated tracery pointed-arched window lights the east end. The nave clerestory contains five three-light panel tracery windows to each side, all set within deeply recessed and concave chamfered segment arches.

The chancel's north wall is lit by two large recessed and chamfered three-light reticulated tracery pointed-arched windows. The eastern bay projects as a 19th-century vestry with a small two-light flat-headed panel tracery window to the north and a two-light flowing tracery pointed-arched window to the east. The chancel's east end is finished with tall gabled angle buttresses and a large six-light recessed and chamfered pointed-arch window with major mullions and exceptionally fine reticulated tracery. The chancel's south wall contains two large recessed and chamfered three-light reticulated tracery pointed-arched windows.

The south aisle has been extended in the 20th century by a single eastern bay to accommodate the organ. The east and south-east windows of this extension are 20th-century work, though they match the aisle's other windows which feature three-light pointed arches with intersecting tracery. The south aisle's west window is exceptional, displaying a three-light pointed arch with ogee-headed lights and highly unusual tracery composed of medieval fragments.

The south porch has a stone coped gable with cross finial and gabled angle buttresses. The archway features a double chamfered moulded pointed arch with triple keeled-shaft responds. Stone benches line the interior, and a 19th-century double chamfered pointed-arched doorway with plain door provides access.

Interior

The nave is articulated by three-bay arcades. The north arcade comprises a large western double-chamfered pointed arch with a diagonally-set quatrefoil pier, followed by two narrower similar arches to the east with a keeled quatrefoil pier and respond. The south arcade mirrors this arrangement with two similar piers and double-chamfered pointed arches, though the western respond is circular. The lower arcade to the chancel displays a double-chamfered pointed arch with circular responds. The chancel arch is broader and higher, of similar profile, with the rood stair incorporated in its north pier. A corbel carved with a lady wearing a wimple projects from the south pier.

The chancel contains several exceptional medieval features. A triple ogee-arched piscina with vaulting, double basins, crocketed finials and pinnacles adorns one wall. Equally elaborate are a founder's tomb and Easter sepulchre positioned either side of the 19th-century vestry door. The tomb displays a large shallow arch with crocketed finials and pinnacles, whilst the small ogee-arched sepulchre is decorated similarly and contains three finely carved Roman soldiers in its lower panel and pairs of finely draped figures in the spandrels.

The roofs throughout are 19th-century joinery, with those of the aisles featuring stencilled decoration. The nave contains 19th-century wooden pews, choir stalls and a screen with rood arch and figural decoration. A 17th-century wooden pulpit survives, alongside a 19th-century brass lectern and a medieval font basin.

Below the tower sits the baptistery, which features an exceptionally lavish font designed by Charles Kirk, displayed at the 1862 London Exhibition. The walls, dado and ceiling here are also stencilled. A wall tablet to Walter Leightonhouse dated 1760 displays cherub heads and a coat of arms. A late 13th-century slab is inscribed "Pray for Richard de Lue". The Royal coat of arms over the tower arch bears an inscription: "Painted by Thomas Hunton of Lincoln for Anthony Fountain 1710".