Church Of St Mary And St Peter

The Church of St Mary and St Peter is a parish church largely of medieval origin, with significant restoration work carried out in 1876-7 by Richard Norman Shaw and further restoration of the nave in 1882-3 by E.S. Prior. It comprises a nave, chancel, south aisle, a south west tower, a south porch, and a north vestry. The church is constructed of random flint rubble with a knapped flint face to the chancel, chancel aisle, and vestry, incorporating stone dressings; the roofs are slated, with the exception of the north chancel which has concrete pantiles.

The 14th-century tower has four stages and a crenellated parapet with diagonal buttresses to the south face. It features a two-light west window and two-light bell chamber openings with small pierced quatrefoils in the lights. Flushwork detailing is present on the parapet, with corner gargoyles and a clock face to the south. The late 14th/early 15th-century nave has a large five-light west window with a flushwork frieze below. The north side of the nave has three largely original two-light and three-light windows, and a 12th-century doorway with two orders of colonettes, three orders of decorative detail to the arch, and a hood mould with billets. The 14th-century nave aisle contains one window with reticulated tracery and two 15th-century square-headed windows. The 15th-century chancel aisle has one 15th-century window and a 12th-century doorway re-set as a Priest's doorway, with one order of colonettes and two orders of chevron moulding to the arch. The chancel features a renewed five-light east window in Perpendicular style and a two-light window to the south.

A good 15th-century porch is present, embellished with panelled flushwork to the lower part of the facade and buttresses, and a crenellated parapet. The doorway features fleurons and blank shields on both faces of the arch, with carved shields in the spandrels and a canopied niche above the doorway, now housing a later figure. Above the niche, at the apex of the parapet, are the keys of St Peter. The south door is original. Internal features include a four-bay arcade to the nave aisle and a two-bay arcade to the chancel aisle. The nave has a scissor-braced coupled rafter roof of six bays, while the chancel has a 19th-century wagon roof. A 15th-century octagonal font is carved with faces to the bowl and stem. A carved 17th-century pulpit includes a bracketed book board. Other notable features are a wrought iron rood screen (dated 1890), a trefoil-headed piscina in the south wall of the nave aisle, two hatchments, and the Royal Arms of Victoria above the north nave door. The chancel aisle holds a monument to Thomas Russell (died 1730), a marble sarcophagus with trophies and a coat of arms. A monument to Samuel Clouting (died 1852) is found in the southwest nave, depicting a three-quarter life-size figure in a niche. The church contains some good 19th-century stained glass. The building is designated Grade I for its surviving medieval fabric.