Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a Grade I listed parish church located on West Mersea High Street. It features a west tower, nave, lower chancel, south aisle, and north porch. The tower, dating from the 11th century, is built in a style that reflects the Saxon and Norman periods and consists of three stages. It has a 17th-century embattled parapet made of septaria laid diagonally in alternating directions, with red brick quoins, some of which are Roman. The ground storey includes 11th-century windows on the north and south walls, with a plain western arch and three corbelled stones at each impost. The west window, from the 16th century, has two round-headed lights beneath four that were originally cinquefoiled but have been altered. The second storey features a circular opening in the west wall, while the bell-stage has 14th-century windows with two cinquefoiled lights, one transom, and a two-centred head on each wall.

The nave is rendered and has two 19th-century Gothic windows set in larger openings that have been blocked. The roof is ridged, gabled, and covered with peg tiles, featuring a 19th-century parapet. The south aisle includes a 16th-century window in the east wall and an arcade of four bays with two-centred arches of three chamfered orders, supported by heavily plastered piers. The chancel has a roof with seven cants, made of open timber with an obtuse pitch, which has been later Tudorised with the addition of wall-pieces and arches. The 14th-century walls are constructed of squared ragstone, with two 16th-century windows in the north wall featuring hoodmoulds and four-centred arches made of red brick. There is a four-centred arch leading to an empty tomb recess in the north wall, and the sanctuary rail is from Semer Workhouse, featuring well-crafted turned balusters.

The north porch is angle buttressed and hip-roofed, dating from the 15th century, and has a four-centred north door leading into the nave, with two-centred windows in the east and west walls. Inside, there are two stone corbels from a former roof-truss, carved with demi-angles. Notable fittings include a 13th-century font with an octagonal bowl made of Purbeck marble and a later stem, a coffin lid from around 1300 with a cross-bottonee in relief, and two chests: one from the 16th century that is iron-bound with lock-plates and staples, and another from the 17th century that is leather-covered with three locks and pierced hasp-plates.