Church of St Peter is a Grade I listed building in the Breckland local planning authority area, England. First listed on 30 May 1960. A Medieval Parish church.
Church of St Peter
- WRENN ID
- ruined-gravel-moss
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Breckland
- Constituency
- Mid Norfolk MP: George Freeman (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 30 May 1960
- Type
- Parish church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Peter, Mattishall
- OS grid reference
- TG 056 117
- Coordinates
- 52.66458, 1.0398
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Peter is a parish church with medieval origins and later additions. It is constructed primarily of flint with ashlar and brick dressings, and has pantile roofs. The church comprises a western tower, an aisleless nave with a south porch and large north chapel, and a chancel.
The unbuttressed west tower, likely dating from around 1300, features a rounded stair turret to the south and two moulded stringcourses. A two-light cusped Y-traceried window is set beneath a four-centred arch on the west face, with galletted flintwork on the ground floor stage. The middle stage contains two small quatrefoil windows and a rectangular loop. The two-light bell openings feature cusping and ogee heads to the south, simpler hood moulding to the west, and plain Y-tracery to the north and east.
The nave, possibly dating from the 11th or early 12th century, has flint quoins and coursed walling. It contains a blocked two-light window and a restored two-light panel-traceried window to the south, a blocked plain-chamfered doorway to the north, and a double ogee moulded south doorway. A sanctus bellcote sits on the east gable. A late Medieval porch is located to the south.
The north chapel dates from the late 13th century and has single two-light Y-traceried windows to the east and west, and a three-light Y-traceried window in the north gable end. The chancel incorporates a modern panel-traceried three-light east window and a 15th-century two-light window with a priest's doorway to the south.
Inside, a two-bay 13th-century arcade leads to the north chapel, featuring a quatrefoil central pier and plain chamfered arches of two orders. The tower arch is double-ogee and wave-moulded, springing from corbels. The chancel arch is plain-chamfered with semicircular responds. The church boasts a late Medieval scissor brace roof, comprised of 16 trusses with single sets of intermediate common rafters, continuous purlins, and a ridge piece. Ashlaring is supported on double-ogee moulded plates. A post-Medieval two-bay clasped purlin chancel roof includes wind bracing; arch braced tie beams have been removed. An angle piscina with a small octagonal shaft and cusped arches is visible, along with a heavily restored late-Medieval chancel screen. A piscina is also present in the north chapel, featuring an ogee head. A 13th-century Purbeck marble octagonal font with pairs of plain, shallow, pointed arches to each face is supported on modern Purbeck marble shafts.
Local climate
Church of St Peter receives an average of 740 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 74% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 90% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 29 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 67% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 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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