Church Of St Peter And St Paul

Church of St Peter and St Paul, Mansfield

A parish church of medieval origin, heavily restored in the 19th century. The west tower dates to the late 12th century and was raised in the 14th century, with a spire added in 1666. The north aisle dates to the 13th and 14th centuries, while the nave is 14th century. The clerestorey, south aisle, north and south chapels, and transept are 15th century. The chancel dates to around 1475 and incorporates 12th-century fragments. The north and south porches are 19th century, as is the vestry of around 1905. The building underwent a major restoration in 1897.

The church is constructed of coursed rubble and ashlar with ashlar dressings, leaded and plain tile roofs. A plinth, sill band, impost band and crenellated parapets define the exterior.

The chancel's east end features flush side chapels, each with a diagonal buttress. A central 5-light pointed-arch window with Decorated tracery is flanked by single 3-light pointed-arch windows with Perpendicular tracery, all with hoodmoulds and stops. The south chapel has a flat-headed 3-light window with Perpendicular tracery to the south. The north chapel contains a central pointed-arched door with hoodmould and stops, flanked by stepped single buttresses, with a 2-light window to the east and a 3-light window to the west, both with flat heads.

The single-storey vestry to the east has a clerestorey roof and two flat-headed plain 3-light windows to the south. The nave clerestorey has four restored flat-headed 3-light windows on each side. The south transept has a 3-light pointed-arch window with Perpendicular tracery to the south and a flat-headed 2-light window to the east. The south aisle, which is four bays, has three flat-headed 3-light windows with Reticulated tracery, with a smaller example to the west of the porch containing less tracery, and a 4-light pointed-arch window at the west end.

The north aisle, four bays, has a 3-light pointed-arch window with Decorated tracery to the east, then a 2-light pointed-arch window to the west, a single lancet beyond the porch, and a 3-light pointed-arch window with Perpendicular tracery at the west end, all with hoodmoulds.

The north and south porches have flanking buttresses and moulded pointed-arched doorways with shafts, hoodmoulds and stops, and wooden gates. Each has double lancets on either side, arch-braced roofs and moulded doorways with hoodmoulds; the north porch's doorway is flanked by tomb slabs.

The square, unbuttressed west tower comprises three stages with string courses and a crenellated parapet with gargoyles. The ground stage has a round-arched doorway with hoodmould to the west and a small round-arched window above. The second stage has round-arched double bell openings with round shafts and waterleaf capitals on three sides. The bell stage has 2-light pointed-arch bell openings with hoodmoulds on each side. A set-back octagonal spire above features a single tier of pedimented lucarnes, a ball finial and weathercock.

Internally, the chancel is defined by a double-chamfered arch with clustered responds and hoodmould. The roof is low-pitched with renewed moulded beams, a panelled ceiling and bosses on arch braces carried on corbels. The east end has a sill band and a stained-glass window by Kempe dated 1905, flanked to the right by an ogee-headed door. An elaborate corniced reredos adorns the east wall. The north and south sides each have two chamfered pointed arches with half-octagon responds and 19th-century Perpendicular-style traceried screens with leaded glass in the west bays. The south side contains a chamfered pointed piscina and an elliptical-arched aumbry.

The side chapels have renewed low-pitched lean-to roofs with arch braces and traceried spandrels. The south chapel has a stained-glass east window dated 1875, flanked to the left by an ogee-headed door and to the right by an incised slab to a priest of around 1280. The south side has an elliptical-arched piscina, and the north side has a squint. The transept contains an organ in a Baroque-style case.

The north chapel of St George has a traceried panelled reredos of around 1918 and a 19th-century stained-glass east window. The north-west window contains stained glass dated 1912.

The nave has four-bay arcades with tall, slender square piers fitted with demi-shafts with fillets, double-chamfered arches with hoodmoulds and mask stops. The roof is renewed and low-pitched with arch braces on corbels. The west end features a late 12th-century rebated tower arch with square responds, and above it a large round-arched opening. The tower chamber has a splayed corner with a round-arched doorway and a west window containing stained glass dated 1900.

The aisles have renewed roofs with traceried spandrels, internal porches, and at their east ends, double-chamfered arches with Perpendicular-style traceried wooden screens. The south aisle has a chamfered 13th-century piscina and square aumbry to the east, with a stained-glass window above dated around 1870. To the west is a segment-arched tomb recess containing a male figure of around 1300, with a stained-glass window above dated around 1889. The south-west and west windows contain stained glass of around 1890. The north aisle has two windows flanking the porch with stained glass dated around 1872, and a north-east window with stained glass dated 1902.

Fittings include a 19th-century round ashlar pulpit with alabaster dressings, a chamfered square ashlar font with marble shafts, and a brass eagle lectern. There are also 19th-century plain stalls and benches, together with a mayor's pew bearing a crest and motto.

Monuments include numerous brasses spanning the early 17th to early 19th centuries. A restored painted stone inscribed tablet with scroll top and crest in an oval cartouche dates to 1634. A charity board dates to around 1670. A mid-18th-century double tablet with scrolls and cornice is present, along with four marble and slate tablets of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A segment-headed war memorial tablet dates to around 1918.