Church Of St Peter And St Paul

Church of St Peter and St Paul

This parish church at Owmby by Spital comprises work spanning from the 12th century through the 20th century. The structure is built in coursed limestone rubble, partly banded with squared blocks and ashlar, with pantile and lead roofs. It consists of a western tower, nave, north aisle, chancel, and south vestry.

The 13th-century tower rises in two stages. The lower stage is tall and unbuttressed with large quoins, separated from the belfry stage by a chamfered string course beneath a plain parapet. The west door dates to the 13th century and features a chamfered surround, hood mould, and human head label stops. Above this is a 14th-century ogee-headed light. The belfry stage has paired lancets on all four sides, also dating to the 13th century. To the upper stage is a 14th-century ogee-headed light.

The north aisle's west wall contains a two-light window with 20th-century tracery set within 14th-century reveals and hood mould. The north wall of the aisle is divided into two sections. The eastern part is built in banded work, whilst the western part uses coursed limestone rubble. The western section contains a late 13th-century two-light geometric window with trefoil. The eastern section has a 19th-century three-light wooden traceried window set in a 16th-century concave moulded reveal. The east wall of the aisle holds a late 13th-century three-light window with Y tracery, moulded mullions, and hood mould.

The chancel's north wall features a 15th-century two-light window with trefoil heads to the lights and paired mouchettes over, set within a chamfered pointed reveal. The east window is late 13th-century, with three lights and geometric tracery. The individual lights have trefoil heads with two cinquefoil and one trefoil in the head of the window. The reveals are chamfered with rudimentary annular capitals. The concave moulded hoods carry floriate label stops. Beneath the capitals are small, curious sinuous shapes on either side which interrupt the chamfered reveals. The south side shows the offset stub of the earlier chancel wall, containing a 15th-century two-light window whose upper tracery was renewed in the 20th century.

The vestry has plain chamfered door and window surrounds. The south wall of the nave contains three 19th-century windows—one single and two paired lights—designed in late 13th-century style.

The chancel was rebuilt in 1808.

Interior

Entry is through the tower. The three-bay late 12th-century north arcade has massive square bases that appear to belong to an earlier phase. The circular piers and responds are topped with square bulbous-leafed capitals, supporting two slightly pointed chamfered arches with hood mould and human head label stops. The tower doorway dates to around 1200 and features a plain order with a slightly pointed head. The 19th-century chancel arch has a single chamfered order with stop chamfers and annular capitals.

The east window of the aisle was apparently inserted, as the rear arch belongs to the 12th century. In the north wall are the reveals of a former doorway, now partly blackened and cut through by a later 13th-century window. Extensive traces of paint survive on the arcade, including black and yellow chevrons on the inner order of the eastern arch.

At the west end of the nave are two command boards dated 1805. In the vestry stands a large keeled 13th-century respond base. All other fittings date to the 19th century, except the font, which is made from reused sections of a massive drum pillar—quite out of scale with any surviving contemporary work—of uncertain date. The topmost section is probably a reused and inverted capital, of which one plain volute remains.

A limestone plaque in the chancel's north wall, with marble veining, commemorates John Barr and John Dudding, dated 1778.