Church Of Saint Peter And Saint Paul

The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is a parish church with origins dating back to the 12th century, significantly altered in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, and restored in the 1860s by T. C. Hine. It is constructed of coursed limestone with ashlar dressings, with rendered areas to parts of the south elevation. The church comprises a chancel, a north vestry, a nave, north and south aisles, a south porch, and a west tower.

The chancel, dating from the 13th to 14th centuries and reworked in the 19th century, features a five-light east window, three three-light south windows, and one three-light north window, all with Perpendicular tracery under four-centred heads. A small square-headed window sits above a pointed arched doorway on the south elevation. The two-storied north vestry, with a staircase to the southwest angle, has a 19th-century two-light square-headed window on its east elevation, with a narrow single light above. Blocked single lights are visible on the north elevation. The pointed arched doorway of the vestry is surmounted by a narrow single light. Both the chancel and vestry are topped with plain parapets, apparently formerly embattled.

The nave, dating from the 13th century and reworked in the 15th, contains four-bay arcades on both sides, as well as chancel and tower arches, the latter blocked by a 20th-century organ. All are pointed and of a similar style. A nail-head ornament adorns the south capital of the chancel arch. The 15th-century clerestory has four windows on each side, featuring three lights under four-centred heads and tracery similar to the chancel windows. The north aisle, also from the 13th century and reworked in the 15th, has three three-light windows with four-centred heads, similarly decorated. A much-restored round-arched doorway is present to the north, with cement render. The north-east corner includes a squint that provides a view into the chancel. A pointed arch E window of three uncusped lights is also present. The west elevation features a three-light window with a four-centred arch. The south aisle has one window on the west and east elevations and three to the south; all are of three lights under four-centred heads, consistent with the nave and north aisle windows. A squint in the northeast angle allows a view into the chancel. The 19th-century south porch has pointed-arched single lights on its sides, a pointed archway, and a pointed-arched doorway. A worn carved Norman relief of a seated figure is set into the stonework above the left side of the doorway.

The west tower, dating from the 13th century and reworked in the 15th, rises in three stages. The west elevation includes a 19th-century pointed-arched doorway surmounted by a two-light window under a four-centred head. The middle stage has a variety of small single lights and blind four-centred arches on each side. The bell stage is characterized by paired two-light windows on each side. The tower, nave, aisles, and porch all have embattled parapets.

Inside, the nave and aisles retain 15th-century roofs with carved angels and bosses, while the chancel has a 19th-century roof. Two fonts are located in the south aisle; one is 14th-century, a chamfered square with shafts at the angles and 15th-century carved tracery panels. The other is a 19th-century octagonal font with carved panels and polychrome marble shafts. A marble wall panel in the chancel commemorates Thomas Frank, the rector who died in 1690. A window in the central north aisle, designed by Kempe in 1884, is also present, along with 19th-century pew boxes throughout.