Church Of St Peter

Church of St Peter at Nevendon

This is a small parish church dating from the 13th to 15th centuries, restored in 1858-9 by Joseph Peacock and further altered in the 20th century.

The church is constructed of ragstone rubble with some tile in the chancel and limestone dressings. The roof is tiled, and there is a timber bell cot and porch. The plan comprises a nave with a north porch and a chancel with a south vestry.

The nave has simple 19th-century two-light windows with trefoiled lights in the north and south walls to the east of the doors, and lancets to the west of the doors. The three-light west window is also 19th century. A late 14th-century north door features moulded jambs, a pointed arch and hood mould with head stops. The north porch is timber-built on dwarf walls. A timber bell-cote, probably dating from the 17th century, sits over the west end of the nave. The south door of the nave is similar to that on the north but lacks a hood mould. The chancel's east window has three lights and is 19th century, though it reuses some earlier stone in the splays. Two heavily renewed 13th-century lancets are present in the chancel's north and south walls. The former northwest and southwest quoins of the chancel are visible as straight joints slightly to the east of the junction with the nave. The 19th-century south vestry has a two-light plate tracery south window.

Inside, the 13th-century chancel windows retain medieval stonework. Both the nave and chancel have 15th-century king-post roofs with octagonal king-posts. The bell-cote is supported internally on tie beams.

The chancel north wall contains a probable Easter Sepulchre, a long recess with a segmental head and jambs extending to the floor. In the nave south wall stands a 15th-century cinquefoiled piscina and a stoup. Royal Arms of George I are displayed. A floor slab in the chancel commemorates Reverend Thomas Hervey, who died in 1712. The pulpit, reredos and chancel panelling were designed by the rector, Alfred Hands, and made by Cushman around 1915. The chancel east window dates from 1950 and was designed by Rosemary Rutherford, replacing a window destroyed in the Second World War.

In the churchyard stands a table tomb to Thomas Blackmore, who died in 1679, and his daughters Ann (died 1677) and Elizabeth (died 1690). A 20th-century lychgate is also present. The church forms a group with Nevendon Hall, The Rectory and a Barn.

Nevendon is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, though no church is mentioned at that date. The earliest surviving fabric is the 13th-century chancel, though this probably replaced an earlier timber nave. The chancel was extended slightly to the west, and the nave was rebuilt in the 14th century. The whole building was reroofed in the 15th century. The bell turret was added in the 17th century. The church underwent restoration and the south vestry was added in 1858-9 to designs by Joseph Peacock. The north porch was added in 1928 to designs by Sir Charles Nicholson. The church has always been a rectory, though it was never a wealthy living, and the building's simplicity reflects the relative poverty of the parish historically. In the 20th century, Nevendon was largely absorbed into the new town of Basildon, though remaining on the edge, it retains something of its individual identity.