Church Of St Peter And St Paul

Church of St Peter and St Paul

Parish church of late 12th and early 13th century date, with early 14th century alterations to the north chapel and chancel, and a late 14th century north porch. The building underwent restoration in 1874 by Chick, when the west tower was added or rebuilt and a south vestry was constructed. The church is built of sandstone rubble with sandstone dressings and has tiled roofs. It comprises a west tower, nave with north and south aisles and north porch, chancel, north chapel, and south vestry.

The west tower has four stages with two string courses and an embattled parapet with corner gargoyles. It features pairs of lancets to north and south, and pairs of two-centred arched openings with two trefoil-headed lights and lozenge pattern infill tracery on each side of the bell stage. A clock face is set into the north side.

The nave has three clerestory windows with quatrefoils in rectangular surrounds on the south aisle. A Y-tracery window has been inserted into a semicircular-headed former doorway to the left of two square-headed windows with two trefoil-headed lights. On the north aisle, there are square-headed windows with two trefoil-headed lights flanking the largely restored, partly timber-framed north porch. The porch's outer entrance has moulded posts and curved braces forming a two-centred arch below the tie-beam, with decorative bargeboard. The north doorway has a semi-circular headed arch of two moulded orders, the inner continuous and the outer springing from attached shafts with foliated capitals.

The north chapel has a lancet to its north side to the left of a blocked semicircular-headed doorway, and an early 14th century east window of three pointed lights. The 19th century south vestry features a two-centred arched window head with two trefoil-headed lights and a quatrefoil in roundel. The chancel contains a late 13th century window of one trefoil-headed light to the south, and an early 14th century east window with a two-centred arched head and three trefoil-headed lights with tracery.

Interior

The nave has north and south arcades of three bays with two-centred arches of two chamfered orders springing from cylindrical piers with moulded bases and capitals. A capital to the east of the south arcade is decorated with scallop ornament. The partly restored 13th century chancel arch has two chamfered orders, with the outer continuous and the inner springing from half-octagonal attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The chancel contains a two-bay arcade to the north with segmental pointed arches of two chamfered orders springing from semi-circular responds and a central cylindrical pier, all with moulded bases and foliated capitals. The south wall of the chancel retains a single lancet window (now blocked externally by the 19th century vestry addition) with attached shafts to the splays. The north chapel has an early 14th century two-centred headed arch to the west of two moulded orders, the outer with shaped stops and the inner springing from corbels with carved heads.

The nave has a 15th century four-bay roof with moulded tie-beams, purlins, and wall plates. The tie-beam of the third truss is carved with running vine ornament on both faces. The chancel roof, also 15th century, has two bays with an open arch-braced truss and moulded members. The north chapel roof, 15th century, has two bays with a central tie-beam supporting four upright struts, moulded purlins, and wall plates.

Corbels positioned to the east of the nave mark the position of the former rood screen; one corbel is carved with a head. A late 13th or early 14th century font has an octagonal bowl with a restored stem. A three-sided pulpit, dated 1681, is partly restored and 17th century in origin, with three horizontal divisions, arabesque ornamentation to top and bottom panels, and enriched arches with figures on the middle range. Two panels bear the names of church wardens and the date. Piscinas with trefoiled heads are present in both the chancel and north chapel.

The north chapel contains monuments, including one attributed to Sir Rowland Cornewall (c.1520), with a knight's effigy resited on a 19th or early 20th century chest tomb. A monument to Sir Richard Cornwall and his wife (c.1540) features reclining effigies on a contemporary chest tomb with moulded base and capping; the sides are carved with weepers representing sons and daughters. A wall tablet on the north wall of the chapel commemorates three sons of Lord Cawley, who died in 1914–18, and was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield in the style of Wren.