Church Of St Peter And St Paul

Church of St Peter and St Paul, Hockley

This parish church has a complex building history spanning from possibly pre-12th century through to modern times. The nave may date from before the 12th century, while the chancel and north arcade (with its arcade of circa 1210-20) are 13th century. A 14th-century west tower stands with a top stage of unknown date. The south porch dates to the 16th or 17th century, and the chancel's east wall was rebuilt in the 17th century. A north vestry and various restorations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The building is constructed of mixed rubble with limestone dressings, while the south porch is red brick. The roof is covered in red plain tiles with a shingle spire. The church is traditionally believed to have been built by Canute and Turkill the Dane following their victory over Edmund Ironside at the Battle of Ashingdon, though no dateable features support this claim.

The chancel's east wall is built of rubble with a plastered gabled end and red brick quoins, with some gault brick repairs. The east window comprises three cinquefoiled lights with tracery above, with two centre arched heads and a label. The south wall contains a restored round-headed window with a label, and a 13th-century chamfered two-centre arched doorway with label; a 14th-century two-centre arched window is blocked. The north vestry has an east cinquefoiled window with two centre arched head and label, while its north wall contains two two-light windows under square heads and a 20th-century door. The north aisle features a plastered red tiled buttress to the east, a 20th-century chamfered and trefoiled eastern window, and a north doorway with an eroded soft stone 13th-century two-centre arched doorway. A western two-centre arched window is also present.

The nave's south wall contains three three-light windows similar to the east window of the chancel. The south porch is constructed of red brick with a weatherboarded gable. It has a square doorway with 20th-century diamond boarding and single-light four-centred return windows. The interior features side seats, a cambered tie beam with missing arched braces, and collars to each rafter pair. A trefoiled stoup occupies the east wall, and a 13th-century south doorway with jambs and a two-centred arch of two chamfered orders is present.

The west tower consists of two stages: a lower square stage and an upper irregular octagon with restored crenellations and band. Angle buttresses to the first stage are capped with red tiles. A small shingle spire with weathervane crowns the tower. Restored trefoiled two-light windows under square heads with labels appear on all four faces of the belfry. The north face has stone capping over the first stage and two small lights (the upper trefoiled ogee, the lower worn but possibly originally ogee), along with a 20th-century single-storey lean-to. The west face contains a west doorway with a badly worn soft stone ogee arch under a square head and a worn niche to the second stage. The south face has a lower trefoiled window under a square head and label, with a worn ogee window above, and a blocked small pointed light to the south-east second stage.

Interior

The chancel features a staggered side purlin roof with three tie beams. A blocked four-centre arched north wall window is present. A piscina with a pointed heart-shaped head and square base features a rear lintel or shelf and blocked drain, with segmental heads to north and south doorways. Panelling dado survives, along with a 20th-century traceried altar rail and 20th-century wood block floors. There is no chancel arch; instead, a tie beam with arched brace spans the space. A rood beam depicts Christ and the two Maries.

The nave contains a wooden octagonal pulpit carved and restored by Miss A.S. Tawke in 1926, featuring a Lamb, Fish, and Cock to the side panels. The roof comprises four four-armed square crown posts with capitals and bases on stop-chamfered tie beams, with moulded wall plates to one bay. A piscina to the south wall has a square head and is much worn. A south-eastern memorial window dating to circa 1844 cuts through the original rood loft stairs doorway. A very large Purbeck marble octagonal font, circa 13th century, features two shallow two-centred arches on each face, a cut-down stem with shafts at angles, and a plain base. A requiem altar, part of a large high altar discovered in 1937 beneath the eastern end of the nave, has a chamfered lower edge and three consecration crosses. A carved low rail extends from the south doorway, enclosing the font to the north.

The north arcade, dating to circa 1210-20, comprises four bays with two-centred arches of outer plain and inner chamfered orders. Circular columns with moulded bases and carved foliate capitals support the arcade; responds have attached half columns. The north aisle contains a 13th-century lancet window to the west wall and an east cinquefoil light window with 15th-century quarries of yellow glass forming a cross, inscribed "Deus" or "Ictus" in black letters. Twentieth-century ornaments of the nave and Lady Chapel include Stations of the Cross and a Rood with statues of Saints Peter and Paul carved in limewood by Austrian woodcarver Anton Dapre. An organ, converted from a Robson Barrel Organ in 1841 with later rebuilding, is present. A chamfered two-centred arched piscina occupies the north wall. A chamfered two-centred tower arch stands above a stair turret door to its north. The west tower belfry frame features corner posts with arched braces to side girts and braces from cill to the centre of side girts to north and south, all much worn. A carved wood First World War memorial dated 1914-18, created by W. Himpett, occupies the north wall. A crucifix is fashioned from remnants of the belfry frame. The church contains three bells: by Miles Gray (1626), James Bartlett (1684), and John Hodgson (1657).