The Church Of Saint Peter And Saint Paul

The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

Parish church of Grade I listed status, located on the west side of Church Road in Weobley.

The building dates primarily to the 13th century, incorporating some fragments from the 12th century, with substantial rebuilding in the 14th century. The detached tower was originally separate but became attached to the structure in the 15th century. The spire was partly rebuilt in the late 17th century following a lightning strike. The church underwent restoration in 1865.

The external walls are constructed of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings beneath a roof of stone tiles and tiles. The plan comprises a nave with north and south aisles, a tower at the north-west corner, and a chancel with a north vestry.

Tower

The tower was built in the mid-14th century, rising five storeys undivided externally and topped with an octagonal spire. It has a deep plinth and a crenellated parapet with tall crocketted pinnacles at the angles, the faces of these pinnacles being traceried. The east, north and west walls each contain a recessed window of three trefoiled lights with tracery beneath a two-centred head. Only the central light is pierced as a functioning window; the side lights have brackets for statues. The spire is supported at its base by flying buttresses rising from the pinnacles. Each side wall of the spire carries a window of two ogee trefoiled lights under a two-centred head, set within a crocketted gable with side pinnacles.

South Aisle and Porch

The south aisle dates to the 13th century and comprises four bays. The eastern bay is carried up to form a 19th-century gable containing a rose window over two lancets. To the west stands a 19th-century window of three stepped lancets, followed by an early 14th-century stone porch with a further 19th-century window to its west containing two trefoiled lights under a two-centred head. The south porch itself was raised in the 16th century and features a two-centred outer arch of two chamfered orders, with lancet windows in each side wall and a low-pitched 16th-century timber roof of painted construction. The south door is a reset 12th-century element with a semi-circular arch of two moulded orders, the inner order continuing down the jambs and the outer decorated with chevron ornament resting on shafts (now lost). The moulded label dates to the 13th century.

Nave

The 14th-century clerestory contains four windows, each of two cinquefoiled lights under a two-centred head. The west wall has a two-light 14th-century window above a pair of 13th-century lancets. The east window is of three trefoiled lights. The nave's west wall was rebuilt in the early 14th century and features a west door with a two-centred arch of four moulded orders, two of which carry ball flower ornament continuing down the jambs, which originally held a shaft with moulded capital. Above this, the west window has a two-centred head over four restored trefoil lights.

North Aisle

The north aisle dates to the 15th century and incorporates the 14th-century north transept. The eastern bay is gabled to the former transept and features a 14th-century window of two trefoiled lights under a two-centred head with a moulded label. To the west stands a 15th-century window of four cinquefoiled lights with tracery in a two-centred head. The former north door at the west end, originally with a segmental pointed head, was blocked in the 19th century to form a two-light window. The west wall contains a 15th-century window of three cinquefoiled ogee lights with tracery in the two-centred head, while the east window is of two cinquefoiled lights under a two-centred head.

Chancel

The chancel was built in the 13th century. The south wall comprises three bays, the outer two with three stepped lancets each, and the centre with two pointed lights under a two-centred head. The north wall contains a central early 14th-century north vestry with a 19th-century window, flanked by two windows each of two pointed lights under a two-centred head. The east window is 15th-century, containing five trefoiled lights with tracery in a two-centred head.

Interior

The nave contains five-bay arcades to both aisles, dating to the early 14th century. These arcades feature two-centred arches of two hollow-chamfered orders with moulded labels springing from octagonal columns. The eastern arch of each arcade carries ball flower ornament. A doorway to the north of the north-east respond gives access to a roof loft stair, which has an upper doorway with a segmental pointed head. Various blocking pieces mark the positions of the main supports for the rood loft. The chancel arch is 14th-century and two-centred, comprising three sunken chamfered orders, the inner springing from triple shafts. Most roofs date to the 19th century, though the south aisle retains two trusses at its east end with moulded and cambered tie beams.

Fittings and Monuments

The chancel screen is 19th-century wrought iron. At the east end of the north wall stands a memorial to Colonel John Birch, Member of Parliament, who died in 1691. This monument is of white and grey marble with a pedestal and semi-circular headed niche flanked by Corinthian columns supporting a broken pediment with trophies of arms flanking the main composition. Within the niche is a standing figure of a man in armour holding a baton. An altar tomb set against the north wall bears an early 15th-century effigy of a man in armour. The south wall contains a two-centred recess with label, housing a pair of mid-15th-century effigies depicting a man in armour and a lady. The 14th-century font has an octagonal bowl with traceried sides on a plain stem with a moulded base. The south door bears the initials SH, IB and CHW and the date 1712 on a small shield.