Church of St Peter

CHURCH OF ST PETER, STOW BARDOLPH

A mission church built in 1908 to designs by E. Douglas Hoyland of 2 Walbrook, London. The building was constructed using terracotta blocks supplied by the Bristol Fireclay Company, with a red pantile roof supported on an exposed timber frame. It was erected for the Reverend J Percy de Putron as a 'New Mission Church' in the western part of Stow Bardolph parish, probably to serve a growing rural population. The Church Army is thought to have been involved in raising interest in the new mission, though much remains uncertain about the church's origins.

The ground plan is traditional and modest in size, measuring approximately 16.6 by 11.5 metres. It comprises a small battlemented west tower with diagonal buttresses at the exposed corners, a nave of 4 bays, a narrower and lower chancel, a north transept, a small projecting stove chamber with a tall chimney and catslide roof off the north side of the nave, a vestry with catslide roof off the south side, and a south porch of openwork timber resembling a lychgate. The porch, chancel and north transept all have pitched roofs with large overhangs at the gables and external trusses. Barge boards run to all gables and verges. Four sizes of windows are used, either single-light or two-light, all with trefoil heads. Single quatrefoils appear in the gables of both the nave and chancel. The rectangular bell-openings in the tower are blocked by perforated screens protected by fixed louvers.

The interior is unusual in that the timber frame, around which the terracotta walls were built, is exposed in its entirety. There are 4 bays divided by arch-braced principal trusses supporting tie-beams, each with a central arch between 6 vertical struts. The westernmost truss rises just in front of the gable end of the nave and is highlighted against the terracotta. The small chancel has a wagon roof carried on the terracotta walls, though the east truss sits in front of the gable end. Angle irons fixed in concrete are bolted to the bottom of each wall post. Along the length of the nave there are upward braces to each bay. The windows are filled with cathedral glass. The church contains a Norman font removed from Stow Bardolph church in the 19th century, where it had been found in use as a flowerpot. The communion table was used by the Reverend J Adams in the second Afghan War (1878–80), who became the first chaplain to be awarded the Victoria Cross. The simple oak chancel rail is original.

St Peter's is unique among ecclesiastical buildings in Norfolk in being largely constructed of terracotta blocks manufactured by the relatively obscure Bristol Fireclay Company Limited. The architectural interest lies in this unusual use and source of material. The design of the church is simple but well composed, and it survives largely unaltered and in good condition, in regular use by the local community.