Roman Catholic Church Of St Peter

The Roman Catholic Church of St Peter was built in 1858 by Gilbert R. Blount. It is constructed of local grey/red soft sandstone with a plain tile roof, gabled and hipped at the ends, and features moulded eaves. The church combines an aisleless nave and sanctuary, culminating in a polygonal apse, with a porch and separate vestry on the north side. It is designed in the High Victorian Gothic style.

The exterior displays buttresses with set-offs between the windows. The nave windows are three-light with Geometric tracery, while the apse windows are smaller and two-light with Reticulated tracery. A stringcourse runs at sill level, rising to a higher level for the sanctuary windows. The prominent west gable features a tall buttress, flanked by two tall windows incorporating a Geometrically traceried rose window above. A small niche and bellcote, topped with wrought-iron crosses, are positioned above the rose window. The vestry, with its gable end, is attached to the north side of the sanctuary. The gabled porch on the north side has a deeply roll-moulded arch flanked by buttresses, with a niche above, and double doors fitted with ornate wrought-iron hinges. Moulded cast-iron gutters and drainpipes, with ornate heads and brackets, are also present.

The interior remains largely unaltered. The plastered walls support an elaborate timber roof with arch-braced trusses resting on corbels, and ornate cusped wind-braces across the screen on a compound wall pier. An intricate wrought-iron rood screen, dating from 1862 and adorned with Bavarian statues, divides the nave and sanctuary. The altar, designed by A.W.N. Pugin and incorporating Continental Medieval work, was brought from Alton Towers in 1860. It comprises an altar table and a fine retable in the form of a triptych with spires, pinnacles, and canopies, all gilded and painted, depicting the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury. Further furnishings include a stone pulpit, a font, and benches with shaped ends. The sanctuary windows feature niche shafts and stained glass dating from circa 1863, alongside memorial glass from 1913 and circa 1918. An organ was installed in 1912. The composer Sir Edward Elgar attended the church while visiting his sister and composed a Mass for the church.