Church Of Saint Peter And Saint Paul

This Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is a fine example of an early 18th-century parish church, significantly enlarged and remodelled in the early 20th century. Built around 1722, it was first restored in 1878-9 at the expense of Mrs Carew of Mytton Hall and Richard Middleton of Fitz Manor. A more substantial remodelling took place in 1905, when Sir Aston Webb rebuilt the chancel and added an organ chamber and vestry, all funded by Sir Offley Wakeman. The church is constructed of red brick with yellow and grey sandstone ashlar dressings and plain tile roofs.

The building comprises a three-bay nave with a two-bay south aisle and west tower, and a two-bay chancel with a single-bay organ chamber and vestry to the south. Webb's 1905 additions are designed in a free early 18th-century style that harmonises with the original structure.

The Tower

The west tower rises in three stages and features a plinth with moulded stone top, chamfered stone quoins, stone floor bands, a moulded stone cornice, and a parapet with stone coping that ramps up to the corners, where it terminates in tapered square ashlar obelisks. The belfry openings are round-arched and louvred, each with curved Y-tracery and a moulded architrave with impost blocks and triple keystone. The second stage has a round-arched west window with curved Y-tracery and similar detailing. High up on the north and south sides of this stage are louvred keyed oculi with moulded architraves.

The west doorway is round-arched with a pair of six-panelled doors and a moulded architrave featuring impost blocks and triple keystone. Similar round-arched doorways appear on the north and south sides, each with moulded architraves, impost blocks, and triple keystones. The north doorway has a five-panelled door with the top panel glazed, while the south retains an 18th-century door with eight raised and fielded panels, the top four glazed. A stone memorial tablet stands to the left of the south door, though it was illegible at the time of survey in January 1987.

The Nave

The nave has a red sandstone plinth with a moulded grey sandstone top, chamfered stone quoins, a stone band above the windows, and a moulded stone eaves cornice that breaks forward over the windows. The gable ends are parapeted; the 18th-century west gable has shaped stone kneelers and a moulded stone cornice, while the east gable was rebuilt in 1905 with plain coping. Round-arched windows throughout feature moulded cills, moulded architraves, impost mouldings, and triple keystones, sitting flush with the band above.

The west end continues the floor band from the tower and carries the band above the nave window around the corner, with a moulded cornice broken forward over the quoins. A small round-arched window on the north-west side has similar detailing. A small lean-to addition at the south-west contains a door with six raised and fielded panels, the top two glazed.

The Chancel

The chancel exhibits more elaborate detailing, with a moulded ashlar plinth, raking ashlar buttresses with moulded plinths and scrolled tops, flush stone cill and impost bands, and a parapet featuring flush stone geometrical patterns and moulded stone coping. The west gable end is parapeted with moulded stone coping and a cross at the apex. The windows are round-arched; those in the western bay on the north side are paired, each with a Gibbs surround, shaped apron, and shaped keystones with moulded tops. The glazing dates to 1905 and features a circle-in-lattice motif.

The east end is particularly striking, with a Venetian window featuring a bracketed moulded cill, Tuscan antae, a frieze, and moulded cornice. The central arch has a Gibbs surround with hollow moulding, a shaped keystone, and three-quarter Tuscan columns that die into the wall at the rear. Above this, flush stone bands appear in the apex of the gable, along with a hollow-chamfered keyed oculus. Cast-iron downpipes and rainwater heads are inscribed "LAVS:DEO" (Praise be to God).

South Aisle and Organ Chamber

The south elevation comprises three gables: the vestry to the right and the two-bay south aisle to the left. The vestry has flush stone quoins, raised stone eaves, and a parapeted gable with stone coping. Its round-arched doorway features a small-paned half-glazed door, a radial fanlight, and a moulded architrave with blocked rustication (square jambs at the base of the arch) and keystone. The right-hand return has a flush keyed oculus and two old memorial tablets reset in the wall, one commemorating Sarah Anne Withers (died 1865) and the other William Withers (died 1814) and John Withers (died 1811).

The south aisle has parapeted gables with stone coping and a shaped kneeler to the left. Its round-arched windows feature moulded cills, moulded architraves, impost mouldings, and triple keystones. A door dating to around 1905 on the right has two panels, the upper with a shaped head, and hollow-chamfered reveals with flush blocks. A blocked round-arched doorway appears to the left. Cast-iron downpipes drain the valley gutters.

Interior

The interior dates largely from the 18th century but was substantially remodelled in 1905. The porch beneath the tower contains an 18th-century door with six raised and fielded panels, now leading to a cupboard in the former south doorway lobby.

The nave ceiling has a moulded cornice with coving leading to a large recessed rectangular central panel. The chancel features a barrel-vaulted ceiling with a large shouldered moulded round chancel arch and a transverse arch, both with triple keystones. A moulded cill string is carried over the hollow-chamfered organ chamber arch to the south as a shouldered moulded architrave. Windows have moulded imposts and keystones; the paired north window is divided by a central pilaster. The east Venetian window is particularly elaborate, with three-quarter Tuscan columns, antae, a pulvinated frieze, and cornice.

The south aisle has two beaded elliptical arches with moulded imposts to left and right, and two transverse elliptical-arched barrel vaults supported by a cast-iron column at their division.

Fittings

The fittings are mainly from Sir Aston Webb's 1905 remodelling, though some earlier items have been reused. The 18th-century west gallery is supported by attenuated cast-iron columns beneath a frieze and cornice. The gallery front features raised and fielded panels with a cornice, ramped up at each end to dies with raised and fielded panels. A painted royal coat of arms occupies the centre. Painted inscriptions adorn the frieze reading "FEAR GOD / HONOUR THY KING / LOVE AS BRETHREN" and four panels inscribed "REVERENCE / MY / SANTCUARY" [sic], "THOU / SHALT WORSHIP / THE LORD THY / GOD", "AND / HIM ONLY / SHALT THOU / SERVE", and "TAKE HEED / HOW / YE HEAR". The coving beneath the gallery has a barrel vault over the west door.

The pews date to 1905 and have ends carved by Waldegrave Brewster, rector from 1901. Wrought-iron candelabra illuminate the nave. Dado panelling, probably reused from box pews, includes some raised and fielded panelling at the rear.

The chancel screen is a particularly fine five-bay structure by Webb from 1905. It consists of a panelled stone base with the second and fifth bays projecting to form pulpit and lectern, each with crosses to the front. Above rises a round-arched oak arcade with panelled pilasters, moulded arches with pierced spandrels and keys (the wider central arch has pierced pendants), and a frieze and cornice that breaks forward over the second and fifth bays. The frieze bears the painted inscription: "HAVING THEREFORE / BOLDNESS TO ENTER / INTO THE HOLIEST BY THE BLOOD / OF JESUS LET US DRAW / NEAR WITH A TRUE HEART". To the right of the screen is a section of 18th-century shaped-head raised and fielded panelling, probably reused from a former 17th-century pulpit (an old photograph in the vestry shows this earlier arrangement).

The sanctuary is panelled, with the upper panels featuring bolection moulding. A small projecting shaped stone table on the right has a single carved scrolled bracket. A pair of free-standing wrought-iron candelabra provide lighting. Plain wooden altar rails have panelled dies and a moulded rail. The choir stalls have panelled backs, pierced sides, and arcaded frontals with pilasters and panels below. Oak screens to the organ chamber and vestry feature tall turned balusters.

In the eastern bay of the south aisle stands an octagonal stone font with a step and stem with moulded base. The plain bowl is carved with a cross and topped with a plain wooden cover featuring a central urn-shaped finial. A probably late 19th-century wooden lectern consists of a tapered octagonal stem, octagonal base, and reeded wedge-shaped top.

The south aisle contains various pews, some with brass nameplates, and reused panelling on the south wall, also with brass nameplates, probably from former pews. A reset 12th-century carved stone capital in the south wall now serves as a piscina with a square bowl. The west door, dating to 1905, has two panels, the upper with a shaped head. In the porch stands a probably early 19th-century Gothic octagonal stone font with a panelled stem, moulded bowl with fleurons, and a plain oak cover with an urn-shaped finial. Former gas lamps in the nave have been converted to electricity.

The nave floor is tiled. Two steps lead up to the chancel, which has a black and white stone and marble floor, and two further steps lead to the sanctuary with its marble floor.

Stained Glass and Monuments

The east window is in a Holbein Renaissance style by W.E. Tower, installed in memory of Edward O.R. Wakeman (died 16 May 1915). Further stained glass appears in two windows of the nave. Various 18th-century and early 19th-century memorial tablets are mounted throughout the church.

Historical Context

Old photographs in the vestry show the church before the 1905 alterations, when it had an 18th-century apse and original 18th-century fittings including box pews and pulpit. A church has stood on this site since the 12th century, as evidenced by the reused 12th-century capital. In 1721 a brief for £1,509 was issued for the building of a new church at Fitz. The 1905 building work was carried out by Messrs Bridgeman of Lichfield.

This is a fine and well-detailed example of an 18th-century church, made more interesting by Sir Aston Webb's sympathetic additions in a free early 18th-century style. Webb was also the architect of Yeaton Peverey, Sir Offley Wakeman's house nearby, built in 1890-2.