Roman Catholic Church Of St Peter And St Paul

Roman Catholic Church of St Peter and St Paul

A Roman Catholic church built in 1826-8 by Joseph Ireland in the Greek Revival style. The building was adapted from the chapel of Giffard House and erected in memory of Bishop John Milner. A side chapel and sacristy were added in 1901 by Edward Goldie, and a further side chapel was added in 1928 by Sandy & Norris.

The church is constructed of stucco with ashlar dressings and has a parapeted roof. The plan is T-shaped with a re-entrant and sacristy to the south, a stairwell to a crypt attached to the north, and Giffard House (the presbytery, listed separately as Grade II*) attached to its east end.

The main south elevation features a projecting two-storey re-entrant on the far left, a three by three bay sacristy with entrance porch, and a chapel forming the south transept. The tall nave has paired flat and angle pilasters at the angles, an entablature and clerestory with pilaster strips and cornice with blocking course. The west window has a battered architrave, frieze and cornice, with small-paned fixed glazing. The clerestory of the nave features lunette windows with archivolts, while the west side is blind. The porch has angle pilasters, entablature and a coped parapet adorned with statues of St Peter and St Paul. Steps with iron railings flanked by two panelled piers lead to the main entrance with large timber panelled doors. The chapel on the far right has a large stained glass window with a panelled sill and holds 12-pane horned sashes, similar to those of the adjacent sacristy. The plain north elevation has three round-headed windows to the south chapel and lunette windows to the clerestory lighting the nave. A small brick extension with skylight, housing stairs leading down to the crypt, is attached to the north side.

Inside, the re-entrant contains a timber staircase with a swept handrail resting on twisted balusters, leading to the gallery at the west end. The gallery houses an organ of circa 1829 by George Parsons. The nave has a tunnel vaulted ceiling with coffered ribs adorned with roses, resting on flat pilasters with honeysuckle capitals on the side walls. The original early 19th-century coloured marble High Altar in Baroque style now stands along the north side of the nave, having been moved there in 1989. Above it hangs a painting of 1784, 'Christ appearing to St Thomas', by Joseph Barney, a local painter, who also produced large fixed paintings of the Evangelists in the nave and sanctuary. On the south wall is a large Gothic-style brass plaque of circa 1826 commemorating Bishop John Milner, probably by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.

The Sanctuary has a coffered dome ceiling with an entablature on pendentives and a lantern with an incised pattern. The marble altar, tabernacle, ambo and credence table were carved by Kate Worthington. The wood-carved crucifix suspended above the altar, clad in aluminium and adorned with gold and silver leaf, is by Rory Young; these fittings were introduced as part of the 2009 re-ordering.

The Sacred Heart Chapel to the right of the Sanctuary has a domed ceiling resting on Ionic columns with a central lantern. The altar recess features a coffered vault, with an elaborate sarcophagus altar and wood reredos with twisted pilasters, swan-necked pediment and shell vault. An oval bronze plaque on the side wall commemorates its erection in 1901 by friends, including Henry Spink of the local locksmiths Joshua Spink & Sons, in memory of the Very Reverend George Canon Duckett, priest at the church from 1851 to 1898. The marble altar rail with decorative wrought iron gates, originally from the High Altar, was moved here in the 1980s. The mosaic underneath commemorates Francisci Cremonini (1840-1908), member of a well-known local family of clock and barometer makers originally from Italy.

The large stained glass window to the Sacred Heart Chapel (artist unknown) depicts the Resurrection and is dedicated to the Glory of God and William Stanton (1825-1881). Several brass plaques commemorate further members of the Stantons, a well-known local family and great benefactors of the church.

Opposite the Sacred Heart altar, above the confessional, is a wrought iron crucifix in an oval setting made by Hardman & Co, manufacturers of ecclesiastical fittings and stained glass windows between 1838-2008. This crucifix formerly hung above the replacement altar following the removal of the original High Altar in 1989; since 2009 that altar is located in the Lady Chapel.

The Sacristy and east entrance stairwell are accessible from the Sacred Heart Chapel. The Sacristy contains bespoke cupboards and drawers for storing vestments.

The Lady Chapel in the north transept is separated from the Sanctuary by a three-bay Tuscan arcade. It has wood-panelled walls, a parquet floor and a barrel-vaulted ceiling. Its east end contains a barrel vault and saucer dome housing a pastel-coloured relief depicting the Annunciation above the altar, moved here in 2009. The three round-arched stained glass windows of circa 1928 are by Hardman & Co and depict King David and the Tree of Jesse.

The crypt was probably created circa 1928. A door near the Lady Chapel gives access to it, with stairs leading down to the barrel-vaulted crypt containing the large marble tomb of Bishop John Milner, re-interred here in 1930.