Church Of Ss Peter And Paul

Church of SS Peter and Paul

A Grade I parish church at Bardwell, predominantly of the 15th century with some 14th-century elements.

The west tower dates to the 15th century and is built of rubble flint on a chequerwork base of stone and knapped flint. It has four ashlar-faced buttresses, two of which are diagonal. An external stair turret rises on the south side. String-courses differ across the four faces of the tower: four on the north, three on the south, and five on the west. The top stage features a 2-light window with cusped traceried head over the west doorway, with similar windows on all four faces. A clock is set on the south face. The tower is topped by a small lead-covered spire and contains six bells.

The early 15th-century south porch is constructed of knapped flint on a chequerwork base. It has diagonal buttresses and battlements with panels of flushwork. The south face displays flushwork panels and three canopied niches containing mid-19th-century statues. In the spandrels of the arch over the doorway are the arms of Sir William de Bardewell (died 1434) and his wife. The porch has two 2-light windows with cusped traceried heads. An open timber roof, restored as a memorial in 1852, features miniature hammer-beams with shields. The floor is laid with early 19th-century gault bricks.

The nave is constructed of random flint with remains of external stucco and has a battlemented slate roof. A range of five tall 2-light 14th-century windows with reticulated tracery lights the nave. The nave roof is a fine single hammer-beam roof in twelve short bays. The arched braces to the hammers alternate between long and short to fit over the windows. A carved pendant hangs from the apex of each truss.

Extensive remains of painting survive within the nave, including trailing floral designs, diagonal stripes, and simulated tracery in the spandrels of the arched braces. Angel figures remain on only four hammer beams; one carries an open book dated 1421. Traces of wall-paintings were uncovered during restoration in the 1850s on the north and south walls. The nave contains mid-19th-century poppy-head benches and low Jacobean panelling along the walls. A plain octagonal 19th-century font stands in the nave, with an older font lying on the floor nearby.

A war memorial in a blocked north doorway displays the arms of George II above it. On the north wall is a memorial to Bardwell men killed in the Crimean War. Four finely traceried panels from a 15th-century rood screen stand in the north-east corner. The two windows at the north-east end contain medieval stained glass, including a portrait figure of Sir William de Berdewell. A mid-19th-century timber pulpit is positioned within the nave.

The chancel is accessed through a narrow chancel arch, with a squint on each side. In the south-east corner is a piscina and a door to the rood stair with an opening above. The chancel was extensively restored in the 1850s and is faced in kidney flints with knapped flint and ashlar to the buttresses. The east window, a 3-light memorial window of 1863, contains stained glass by O'Connor. The chancel roof is arch-braced with high collars and capitals featuring winged angels carrying a scroll, crown, musical instrument and other objects. A whitewashed stone reredos in Victorian Early English style stands within the chancel.

Various memorials are displayed: on the north wall, memorials to members of the Crofts and Reade families; on the south wall, a memorial to Thomas Read (1658) and a large monument to John Read and his wife with their kneeling figures flanked by those of their seven children (1651/2).