Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a parish church with medieval origins, significantly altered in the 1660s and thoroughly restored in 1854. It is constructed of uncoursed limestone rubble, with coursed rubble to the 19th-century additions, and has plain tile roofs with coped stone verges. The church comprises a nave, belfry, chancel, north aisle, and south porch.

The south side of the nave retains medieval or 17th-century fabric, featuring a two-light Decorated-style window (circa 1854) to the east of a mid-19th century gabled stone porch; a similar window is located on the west wall. Above the nave is a restored, timber-framed belfry, likely dating to the 17th century, with close-set vertical posts, two middle rails, and a quatrefoil frieze to the top, alongside twin trefoil-headed openings below the wide, spreading eaves of a pyramidal roof with a brass weathercock. A rectangular stair turret stands to the north, and a lean-to, two-bay north aisle extends to the side, featuring paired cusped lancet windows, both dating from circa 1854.

The chancel’s south side has a cusped lancet, a blind lowside window below, and a two-light Decorated-style window, all dating from circa 1854, flanking a pointed doorway. The north side retains medieval fabric and includes an early 14th-century cusped lancet, with a blocked lowside window below, and a mid-19th-century Decorated-style window to the east. The east window is of three lights with reticulated tracery, dating from circa 1854.

Inside, the round-headed south doorway holds a massive plank and muntin door, believed to have originated from Buildwas Abbey. The door is nail-studded with long fleur-de-lys pointed strap hinges, with the upper part bent at right-angles to accommodate a small, inset round-arched door with strap hinges. The nave features a double hammer-beam roof in three bays (outer trusses restored), supported by elaborately carved wall brackets, straight wind braces, and V-struts from the collars. The belfry rests on two wooden posts with arch bracing, tie beams, and quatrefoil struts. A stone in the north wall of the nave is inscribed “RICD HARNAGE/RH 1669/GEO.HARNAGE/1845”. A pointed chancel arch dates from the mid-19th century. The chancel roof is a trussed rafter design with a moulded eaves cornice, probably from the 14th century, though some decorative motifs (ball-flower and dog-tooth ornament) are likely to be mid-19th century additions. A trefoil-headed piscina is also of probable 14th-century origin, and two mid-17th-century chairs flank the altar. A pulpit and some pews are also from the 17th century, although one pew on the north side of the nave is dated 1716. A plain, mid-19th-century font stands on a circular plinth, and stained glass by H. Hughes (1877) is found in the east window. A remarkable effigy of a recumbent female figure, approximately 0.7 metres long and likely from the 14th century, is located at the east end of the nave; it was reportedly found in the chancel during the 19th-century restoration. The church occupies a prominent position within the village, situated on a high, likely partially man-made mound.