Church of St Peter is a Grade I listed building in the South Cambridgeshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 31 August 1962. A Early C12 Church.

Church of St Peter

WRENN ID
muted-lead-grove
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
South Cambridgeshire
Constituency
South Cambridgeshire MP: Pippa Heylings (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
31 August 1962
Type
Church
Address
Church of St Peter, St Johns Lane, Horningsea
OS grid reference
TL 492 626
Coordinates
52.24178, 0.18502
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Peter is a parish church that dates back to the early 12th century. It was extended in the late 12th century, featuring arcades to the north and south aisles, of which three bays of the south aisle remain. The chancel was added in the early 13th century, along with a west tower. The north arcade was rebuilt in the 14th century, and the aisle was extended eastwards at that time; the south aisle and porch were also added in the late 14th century. The church underwent restorations around 1850, 1865, and 1890.

The structure is built with walls of Barnack limestone, limestone ashlar, flint, and clunch rubble, with some red brick repairs covered by cement render. The chancel and nave have a continuous gable roof that is plain tiled, while the low-pitched roofs of the aisles and porch are covered in lead. The tower consists of four stages with chamfered strings, angle buttresses, and side buttresses, all of three stages. A brick parapet, added around 1825, features angle gargoyles.

The south aisle has diagonal and side buttresses of two stages and a reduced parapet. It contains three windows: a 19th-century two-light window to the west of the porch, an early 16th-century elliptical-headed five-light window with sunk spandrels in a square-headed arch, and a late 14th-century pointed two-light window with trefoiled spandrels. The late 14th-century south doorway has a two-centred head and continuous moulded jambs decorated with paterae and a carving of a pelican in piety. The south porch has a low-pitched roof from the 19th century, replacing the original parapetted gable roof, and features grotesque lion gargoyles and a restored archway.

The chancel includes reused Barnack ashlar below the cill height, a sealed lowside window, a late 15th-century three-light window in a four-centred arch, a 13th-century doorway with a trefoiled-headed lancet above, a late 14th-century window with two cinquefoil-headed lights and a quatrefoil, and a trefoiled lancet light to the east.

Inside, the church has various architectural details and monuments, with roofs rebuilt in the 19th century. The pulpit, dating to around 1600, has been restored with linenfold panels, and there are late 15th-century oak pews. The font is from the early 13th century, and some late 14th and 15th-century glass remains. The church was rebuilt in the 12th century on the site of a minster church.

Local climate

Church of St Peter sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 92% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 80% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 32 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 60% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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