Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a parish church located on Church Road in Flitwick. It has origins dating back to the late 12th century, with additions and alterations from the 14th century, early 16th century, and late 19th century, including significant reworking of the window tracery. A chapter house was added to the west end in 1983. The church is constructed of coursed ironstone and cobblestones, with ashlar dressings and clay tile roofs.

The layout includes a chancel, north vestry, nave, north and south aisles, a south porch, and a west tower. The chancel was rebuilt in the early 14th century and features a two-light pointed-arched window to the east and a single light to the west, along with a three-light pointed-arched east window that was restored in 1984. The chancel arch is pointed. The late 19th-century north vestry has paired lights to the east and a doorway to the west.

The nave, originally built in the late 12th century and initially aisleless, has three-bay pointed-arched arcades to the north and south, with the south arcade dating to the early 14th century and the north to the late 19th century. The south elevation clerestory features an embattled parapet and three two-light windows with square heads, while the north elevation has a plain parapet and three pointed-arched two-light windows. The north aisle, added in 1858, has two-light windows to the west and east, and the north elevation includes two windows of three and two lights, flanking a reset late 12th-century round-headed doorway adorned with a large roll and beakhead mouldings, some featuring grotesque faces, and a label carved with billets.

The south aisle, built in the early 14th century, has a two-light pointed-arched window to the east, a three-light window with a square head from the 16th century, and a single light from the 14th century on the south wall, along with a west window from the 19th century. The south porch, dating to the 16th century, is timber-framed with red brick infill and a gabled clay tile roof, featuring an outer archway with carved foliage in the spandrels.

The west tower, constructed in the late 14th century, consists of three stages with angle buttresses and an embattled parapet. An octagonal stair turret projects slightly from the southwest angle, and the bell-stage has two-light windows, while the middle stage has small single lights. The ground stage on the west elevation features two-light windows above a doorway that now leads to the 20th-century chapter house.

Inside, the nave boasts a 15th-century roof with carved bosses, while other roofs date from the 19th century. The south aisle contains a late 12th-century font with a fluted circular bowl on a 19th-century base, and a 17th-century pulpit that incorporates some 16th-century linenfold panels. A pew in the south aisle also features linenfold panelling. The southwest window of the chancel includes a roundel of 14th-century glass depicting two leopards.