Church of St Peter is a Grade II* listed building in the Breckland local planning authority area, England. First listed on 16 July 1958. A Medieval Church.

Church of St Peter

WRENN ID
tall-ledge-smoke
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Breckland
Constituency
South West Norfolk MP: Terry Jermy (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
16 July 1958
Type
Church
Period
Medieval
Address
Church of St Peter, Riddlesworth
OS grid reference
TL 966 812
Coordinates
52.39425, 0.88903
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Peter is a parish church largely dating to the early 14th century, with repairs from the 18th century and a 19th-century restoration. It is constructed of flint with ashlar dressings and has plain tiled roofs. The church comprises a three-stage west tower, a nave, and a chancel. The tower has diagonal buttresses to the west and an angle buttress to the east. Stilted doorways are present on the north and south sides; the south doorway has a hood with head stops, while the north doorway has been blocked with a lancet window. Above the south door is a trefoiled ogee niche. String courses define the tower stages. A trefoil light is visible in the ringing chamber on the south side. Restored Y-tracery two-light belfry windows are located below a crenellated parapet. A gabled south porch features 19th-century cinquefoiled side lights and a wave-moulded inner south door. All windows are 19th century and of varying types, with two-light cusped windows under square hoods and two-light trefoiled windows with reticulation units, spaced between flat buttresses to the south nave. Similar windows are present on the north nave, to the east of the blocked arched north door. A dentil eaves cornice runs along the nave. The chancel has diagonal buttresses and a three-light Perpendicular east window, with gault brick chancel buttresses and quoins. A trefoil arched light is on the north side of the chancel. A gabled, 19th-century vestry is situated at the east of the nave, to the north, and features a tall chimney. Inside, the rood stairs are located in the centre of the south side of the nave, suggesting a 19th-century extension. The church has a two-tier roof with butt purlins and braces to the collars. A similar roof covers the chancel. Late 17th-century iron twist altar rails have moulded handrails and a pair of central gates; quadruple iron twist balusters are spaced at intervals. A plain octagonal font is present, along with a painted depiction of the Royal Arms of Charles II, dated 1666. The early 17th-century pulpit is panelled with rosette-decorated arches and top panels and has a tester with a frieze and pendants. A notable wall monument in the north wall of the nave commemorates Sir Drue Drury (died 1617). This monument features three scrolled brackets supporting an inscribed tablet and plinth, upon which stand two robed angels parting curtains to reveal Sir Drue Drury kneeling before a reading table. A putto head looks down from the ceiling of a curtained niche within a semi-circular projection with a Doric frieze decorated with four coloured shields; two further heraldic shields in moulded roundels stand on a cornice framing an achievement under a bow-fronted open pediment.

Local climate

Church of St Peter sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 88% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 99% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 32 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 60% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 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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