Church Of St Peter

The Church of St Peter is a parish church located in Swainsthorpe. The west tower dates back to the 12th century, while the rest of the church was built in the 14th century. The south windows were added in 1443, and the church was restored in 1885 when the south porch was rebuilt. The building is constructed from flint with ashlar dressings and has plain tile roofs.

The church features a two-stage circular tower with a 14th-century octagonal belfry. The west window is a renewed two-light Perpendicular style, and there is a lancet window on the west side of the ringing chamber. The belfry has alternating facets with two-light Perpendicular windows under depressed heads, topped with a crenellated parapet. The aisle does not have a west window. The gabled south porch is supported by low diagonal buttresses and features a moulded arch on circular responds, along with two-light square-headed cusped side windows.

Inside, there are two three-light Perpendicular windows with panel tracery on the south nave, a wave-moulded doorway to the north aisle, and one two-light square-headed aisle window. The east aisle has a two-light mouchette window. The south nave east has a stepped side buttress and two two-light square-headed Perpendicular windows, with a similar window on the north side. The east window is a three-light Perpendicular design from the 19th century.

The interior includes a tall wave-moulded tower arch without responds, a re-cut 13th-century font supported by eight orbiting marble columns, and a restored five-bay nave roof with moulded principals on arched braces. The roof features one tier of butt purlins and winged angels as bosses. There is a two-bay 14th-century octagonal arcade to the north aisle with moulded capitals and bases, and double hollow chamfered arches. A narrower 19th-century arch leads east, while the chancel arch is triple chamfered without responds. The chancel roof matches that of the nave and includes four 15th-century poppyheads in the stalls, along with a pierced and cusped piscina. A memorial brass in the chancel commemorates Gilbert Havers, who was Captain of Infantry to Elizabeth I, dated 1628.