Church Of St Peter

The Church of St Peter is a building dating from the late 12th century, with significant additions and alterations from the 13th and 14th centuries, and further work in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is constructed of sandstone rubble with a slate roof. Originally cruciform in plan, the church now comprises a nave, an early 14th-century chancel, north and south aisles, and a central embattled tower with a circular staircase at the north-east corner.

On the exterior, there are three Norman doorways, two of which have been re-set. The doorway to the north aisle features a later tympanum and three shafts on each side. The doorway on the south side has an altered original tympanum, above which is a stone with a shallow-relief carving depicting St Peter, potentially of Anglo-Saxon origin. The earliest windows have Geometrical tracery in the north window of the north transept, dating before 1300; the remaining windows are 14th century, showcasing intersecting or Y-tracery. A west window was added in 1937 when the west door was blocked, and an east window dates from 1933. Two 14th-century tomb recesses are set into the outer walls of the south aisle and transept.

Inside, the nave arcades have differing capital styles; the south arcade features scalloped capitals, while the north arcade has leaf forms, with the latter being dated to around 1210. The roof pitch over the nave and aisles was altered approximately in 1805, and coved ceilings were inserted at that time, alongside the heightening of the nave arcades' pillars. In 1877, the chancel was restored and re-ordered by Thomas Nicholson, resulting in a panelled ceiling, choir stalls, and a pulpit, all executed in a Perpendicular style. The font is from the 12th century and is decorated with two tiers of ornamentation. The communion table is 16th century, with bulbous legs. A series of 14th-century tomb recesses are found within the nave and south transept. The organ, dating from 1839, was initially housed in a western gallery, but was moved to its present position north of the choir in the late 19th century; it is contained within a wooden, battlemented case with cusped openings revealing the pipes.

The church’s significance lies in its substantial survival of 12th-century fabric, including three doorways—two notably fine—and a carving potentially dating back to the pre-Conquest period. Other features of note include a 14th-century crossing tower with a circular stair turret, window tracery, tomb recesses, and a Norman font.