Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a parish church dating to 1753. It is constructed of limestone ashlar with a shallow, gabled lead roof concealed behind a parapet. A wooden west cupola, capped with lead, tops the west front. The church is arranged as a single-volume nave and chancel, with a smaller, projecting eastern apse. A plinth runs around the base, and the corners are quoined.

The west front features a central Tuscan doorway flanked by half columns supporting an entablature and pediment. An inner round-headed doorway has a Tuscan pilastered surround, a moulded head, and a raised keystone inscribed with the date 1753. Panelled doors lead inside. Above the doorway is a large pediment, above which sits the recessed octagonal cupola with eight round, moulded arches supported by Tuscan pilasters and raised keystones. An ogee-shaped cap is topped with an ornate weather vane. The north and south sides each contain three large round-headed windows with Tuscan pilastered surrounds, moulded heads, and raised keystones. Moulded eaves project above a broad parapet. The eastern apse also has two similar round-headed windows.

The interior features a modillioned cornice. A fine 18th-century wooden reredos stands at the east end, with lugged corners, an open pediment, egg-and-dart borders, and painted red, blue, and gold. A 19th-century altar rail leads to a 20th-century ornate altar with ionic columns, also painted blue and gold. A 18th-century stone font is inscribed with the words 'Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not'. The font bowl incorporates acorn cups, bindweed and tulip heads, and sits on a tall ornate base. An eagle lectern dates from 1870; a 19th-century paschal candle is also present. A polygonal 18th-century pulpit, painted dark red with fielded panels and ornate brackets, supports a reading board. Dark red painted 18th-century pews fill the nave.

Several monuments are present: one to Mary Dell, died 1795, featuring a grey shaped ground with a white marbled tomb chest, pilastered panel, and beribboned flowers and palms; one to John Harrowsmith, died 1840, in limestone ashlar with a crocketed gable, finial, pointed cusped arch, and nook shafts; one to Thomas Becke, died 1757, the church’s founder and patron, with an ornate broken pediment, a central cartouche with a coat-of-arms, fluted ionic pilasters, a central round headed niche, and a large moulded apron; one to Robert Featherby, died 1834, of ashlar with a 4-centred arch and angel brackets; one to Mary Judith Hutton, died 1809, with grey and white streaked marble and a white marble tomb chest with orange marble bands; and one to Henry Hutton, died 1836, with grey marble, a white marble tomb chest, and beribboned palms.