Church Of St Peter And St Paul

Church of St Peter and St Paul, Foxearth

Parish church with a nave of uncertain date. The north aisle was added around 1350 when the chancel was rebuilt. Around 1450 the north aisle was widened and a north chapel added, possibly coinciding with the removal of the chancel arch. The west tower dates to circa 1862, and the south porch to the late 19th century. Substantial restoration took place in the late 19th century.

The exterior is built of coursed flint with stone dressing and has red plain tiled roofs. The chancel east window dates to circa 1350 and comprises three lights with ogee heads and leaf tracery over in a two-centred head, with a stone parapet verge. A south wall window of circa 1450 has two lights with tracery in a segmental pointed head and chamfered label. A 19th-century western window of three lights with tracery sits under a segmental pointed head. Between the chancel and nave is a chamfered and moulded beam, possibly from the 15th century, carried on curved brackets and topped by a plastered and painted infill.

The roof comprises three bays, possibly dating to circa 1350, with a single hammerbeam decorated with angels on the hammers. The timbers were painted and gilded, probably by J. Clark around 1885. The north aisle's north wall has five windows of three ogee lights with tracery over, an east window of three lights in a segmental head, and a west window of two lights with segmental pointed head. The wall is crenellated with crocketed pinnacles and has five buttresses. A two-centred-arch doorway contains a plank and muntin door. The nave's eastern window has three ogee lights with tracery over in segmental heads; a 19th-century window has two lights with centre transom and tracery in a pointed segmental head. All windows retain remnant circa 1450 rear arches and splays.

The north arcade dates to circa 1350 and comprises four bays with two-centred arches of two chamfered orders. Above this is a 15th-century lean-to roof with moulded timbers, curved brackets with carved spandrels to principals, and wall posts with feet carved with foliage or faces. The nave roof, possibly dating to circa 1340, has four bays with arched braces from wall pieces to raised ties with straight braces to collars above. The crenellated wall plates are painted and gilded, probably from around 1885.

The south porch is of late 19th-century date in matching materials, with a two-centred arch doorway. Its porch opening has a two-centred arch of two orders, one foliated, with moulded base shafts and foliate capitals. The gable has stone coping with angel corbels and a cross to the apex, with a statue above the doorway.

The west tower, built in 1862, is crenellated with flint flushwork and stone-dressed buttresses to belfry height. The belfry has five louvred cusped lancet openings to each face. An angled stair tower to the south-east has a hipped stone roof and lancet lights. A centre band with a memorial inscription to Margaret Foster (died 1861) marks the tower's construction date. The tower features clocks to the north, south, and west faces with moulded semi-circular labels and foliate and gargoyle stops. Two lancet windows sit under the clock to the west face, and a west window with intersecting tracery and quatrefoil over has a label with foliate stops. A two-centred tower arch leads below, where the lower area is lined with coloured mosaic and the upper area is painted. The organ is painted.

The interior includes an early 16th-century screen between the chancel and nave with six original panels on each side of the doorway featuring traceried heads and quatrefoils at the base, each painted with a named figure of a saint. A 19th-century traceried screen sits above. The 19th-century octagonal carved stone font stands on an octagonal stem and has a carved and crocketed timber spire cover with a pelican on the nest. An ornately carved eagle serves as the lectern. The pulpit is octagonal with spiral stairs and painted ogee head panels. Carved 19th-century choir stalls are present. The reredos comprises five painted panels with seven traceried panels over and ten carved and painted panels to right and left. A 15th-century piscina has hollow chamfered jambs and a cinquefoiled head.