Church Of St Peter

CHURCH OF ST PETER

Parish church with 15th-century nave and south tower, the ground floor of which serves as the south porch. The chancel, south vestry, north chapel and north transept date to the 19th century. A 12th-century window and decorative fragments have been reset in the east wall of the vestry. The building is constructed mainly of flint faced over rubble walls, with plastering to the north walls and south vestry. Flint flush chequerwork appears on the crenellations and plinth. Stone dressings are throughout, with red plain tiled roofs—the nave roof sits lower than that of the chancel—and stone parapet verges to the gables. A cross crowns the chancel east gable. The plinth follows through the building.

The chancel features an east window of three cinquefoiled ogee lights with tracery over a two-centred head and label with foliate stops. Angle buttresses support the north and south walls, which contain windows of two cinquefoiled lights with tracery over, moulded segmental heads and labels. The south vestry has buttresses to the southern angles. Its south wall displays a quatrefoiled roundel in the gable and a window of three trefoiled ogee lights under a square head. The west wall holds a small trefoiled two-centred arched window. The east wall contains a small reset 12th-century decorated round-headed window, with fragments of Norman decoration above and below it. A 19th-century two-centred arched doorway with a square head, label and carved spandrels provides access.

The north chapel is gabled to the east with a quatrefoiled roundel to the gable and a window of three trefoiled ogee lights with tracery over a segmental head and label. A buttress supports the north-east angle. The north wall features east and west chamfered trefoiled two-centred arches with labels, and a central window of two cinquefoiled lights with tracery over a segmental head and label. The north transept has a north wall window of three cinquefoil lights with tracery over a four-centred head and label, and two small trefoiled lights to the west wall.

The nave's north wall contains two windows with two-centred heads and Y-tracery, with buttresses between the windows and to the west of the west window. The west wall is buttressed at the angles and topped with a cross. A square louvred light occupies the gable. The west window, possibly 15th-century, is tall with two cinquefoiled ogee lights above and below a transom, with tracery over. The south wall holds three two-centred arched windows: the central ones have Y-tracery, while the east and west windows are trefoiled with quatrefoils.

The south tower is crenellated with gargoyles to the east, south and west faces. Buttresses support the southern angles, and flint chequerwork decorates the crenellations, plinth and buttresses. Each face of the bell chamber contains a window of two cinquefoiled lights with a segmental head and label. A slit light pierces the first floor west wall, and a small cinquefoiled headed window with label appears on the south face. Traces of a red brick arch remain on the ground floor west wall. The south doorway features a moulded two-centred arch and label with moulded capitals and bases to jamb shafts. A pair of double doors, each of five overlapping boards, is topped by a carved lintel with boarding above.

Interior

The south porch (ground floor of the south tower) has a stone flag floor and panelled chests to the east and west walls. The nave's south doorway has a chamfered and moulded two-centred arch of three orders with a moulded label. The door itself consists of five overlapping boards with three strap hinges; the central boss at the hinge centre probably formed the plate of a sanctuary knocker.

The chancel roof spans three bays with double side purlins and a ridge board, arched braces to the lower purlins and arched braces to collars supported by stone corbels, with tracery above the collars. A 19th-century coloured tiled floor covers the floor. The reredos comprises three traceried and painted panels; the side panels feature stone cinquefoiled double arches with moulded capitals and bases to shafts. A trefoiled two-centred headed piscina with label and octofoil drain occupies the south wall. A stone shelf runs along the north wall. 19th and 20th-century stained glass fills the windows, though much 19th-century glass was destroyed during the 1939-45 war. A wooden screen of five bays with cusped arches and tracery over provides access through the central bay. An organ stands against the south wall (near the vestry entrance), with a floor slab beneath carrying a coat of arms inscribed 'confido' and a lion crest. A moulded four-centred arch springing from foliate corbels with moulded label and foliate stops marks the entrance to the north chapel on the north wall. Two floor slabs at the chapel entrance commemorate Richard White (1747) and George May (1764), both with coats of arms.

The north chapel and north transept (1862) are connected by an archway—a chamfered two-centred arch with a chamfered stone fire surround set into the north-eastern jamb. A hatchment hangs above the arch. An area of red and yellow painted tiles covers part of the floor. The roofs span seven cants. 19th-century stained glass lights the windows. A wall slab commemorates Sisley Rowe (164?3), and memorials record Rev Tobias Rustat and his relict Sarah (1766), Rev Thomas Mills (1827).

The nave contains a 19th-century chancel arch—a chamfered two-centred arch springing from foliate corbels—topped by a Royal arms board. Altar rails feature twisted brass posts and a moulded wooden top rail. A brass lectern stands in the nave. An octagonal pulpit with no stem displays pierced traceried panels. A blocked stopped chamfered four-centred arched doorway on the south wall probably led to former rood loft stairs. A brick floor runs throughout. Pews with carved poppyheads feature side and front panels. Nine stone or brass plaques to the Reade family and one to R Gladwell decorate the south wall; three 19th or 20th-century wall brasses hang on the north wall.

Monuments adorn the nave walls. An urn on a shelf with pendants commemorates Bridget Allen (1777). Further monuments record Mary and Gill Bradley (1815 and 1821). Two similar monuments occupy the north-west and south-west walls. The north wall monument shows John Jermy (1662) and his wife as carved kneeling figures facing each other across a prayer desk and open books; a son stands behind the man, and two daughters behind the woman. Carved pilasters, a cornice and a coat of arms sit above. Below are side pendants and scrolls with two inscribed panels containing a poem written by John Jermy in memory of his wife shortly before his death. The south wall monument, similar in design but showing different clothing and lacking kneeling children, commemorates Isaac and Lady Jane Jermy (1623). A plaque below the west window documents the enlargement and rearrangement of the church in 1862. A two-centred archway leads to a stair turret with a door of four boards with nailed muntins.

An octagonal font sits in the nave, with two two-centred arches to each face. A large central column forms the stem, surrounded by eight smaller angle columns, all with capitals and bases; an octagonal base supports the whole. The nave roof spans five cant and seven bays, with boarding between principals. Carved figures holding shields project from the east and west of north and south moulded wall plates.