Church Of St Peter

The Church of St Peter is a parish church largely dating to the early 13th century, with significant alterations in the late 13th century, the 16th century, and a complete rebuilding of the nave, north aisle, and chancel in 1821. It is constructed of squared limestone rubble, with some areas of coursed limestone rubble, all rendered, and ashlar quoins and dressings, all under lead roofs.

The church comprises a western tower, a nave, a north aisle, a vestry, and a chancel. The tower, built in the 16th century, is of two stages and is buttressed with angle buttresses. It features a moulded plinth, a cyma moulded string course, and a battlemented parapet with four corner pinnacles. The belfry openings, two lights to each face, contain plain panel tracery and hood moulds. A grotesque head is set into the south face of the tower. The west window is of three lights with late 13th century intersecting tracery, set within a 16th century deeply concave moulded surround with a hood mould. Above the window is a kneeling carved figure. The north aisle, rebuilt in 1821, is rendered and contains two two-light windows with Y tracery and hood moulds. The vestry has a north door with a hood mould terminating in human head stops, and a two-light east window with 19th-century plate tracery. The chancel east window is of two lights with 19th-century Y tracery and a cross fleury to the gable. A blocked doorway is visible on the south wall of the chancel behind the render, indicating a previous shortening of the chancel. The south nave wall contains a central pointed-headed doorway flanked by single two-light Y traceried windows.

Inside, the early 13th-century three-bay north arcade has filleted quatrefoil piers with good octagonal stiff leaf capitals, double-chamfered arches, hood moulds, and label stops with small sprigs of foliage at the springing. The responds have shafts to either side. The 16th-century tower arch has a single continuous outer chamfered order with a hood mould, and an inner order springing from moulded impost blocks. A pointed niche in the south wall of the nave houses a worn seated figure, possibly a 13th-century Virgin and Child. The 13th-century chancel arch, of two chamfered orders, is supported on annular corbels with human heads to the undersides; that on the north side depicts a bishop. A 19th-century doorway provides access to the vestry. The nave, aisle, and chancel have moulded plaster cornices with dogtooth decoration. There is 19th-century stained glass in the chancel, and the south window is dated 1917. All fittings are 19th or 20th century, with the exception of the font. This is a tub-shaped font from the early 13th century, with a zone of stiff leaf decoration around the top, a hobnail band around the middle, and set upon a 19th-century pedestal. A 19th-century charities board is located in the west wall. A 15th-century black letter slab, showing a recumbent figure with coats of arms, is re-used as an altar table. A late 18th-century marble wall plaque commemorating members of the Ellis family is in the west nave wall.