Church Of St Peter

The Church of St Peter is a parish church dating primarily to the 13th century, with subsequent alterations and additions. It is constructed of rubble flint, originally rendered but now partially exposed, and has reed thatch on the nave and plain tiles with ornate ridge detailing on the chancel. The nave features diagonal buttresses at the west end and single angle buttresses on the east side, and contains three two-light windows with reticulated tracery on both north and south sides. A blocked north doorway, likely rebuilt in the 17th century, has a rounded arch with hollow moulding. The chancel has single-light, low-side windows on the north and south walls, a plain 13th-century priest’s door on the south side, a blocked 13th-century lancet window, and a three-light window with intersecting tracery. The restored 19th-century east window, in a Decorated style mirroring the nave windows, incorporates a blocked foliated circular window within a square surround above. Attached to the north side of the chancel is an early 19th-century vestry, constructed of black knapped flint with white brick dressings, and featuring three round-headed windows with intersecting Gothic tracery. The truncated west tower, divided into three stages, has a weatherboarded top and a pyramid roof, with diagonal buttresses on the west side. A south porch, with a gabled pantiled roof and crenellations, also has diagonal buttresses and two restored two-light windows. The interior features an open timber roof, comprising three bays with arch braced supports. A 13th-century south doorway is present, as are remains of medieval wall-paintings on the north and south nave walls. A canopied and traceried niche on the north wall once housed the shrine of Our Lady of Pity, and there are royal arms carved in high relief above the north door. Alongside the early 20th-century benches, six Jacobean benches with fleur-de-lys ends are positioned at the back of the nave. A late 14th-century octagonal structure has traceried panels on a plain base, and a large double door to the base of the tower displays baroque mouldings and carvings. A fine three-decker pulpit, dated to around 1700, features raised fielded panels and acanthus foliage. A piscina is located at the east end of the south wall, with a cusped ogee head and a small niche adjacent. A decorative screen, showing traces of gilding and colour, contains cusped ogee heads and crocketed spirelets, with a blocked doorway leading to the rood stair nearby. Roof timbers were replaced in the late 20th century. The chancel roof, revealed during restoration in the 1960s, is notable for its king post trusses with arched braces extending down the walls to coronated capitals, two rows of moulded butt purlins, a carved cornice with battlemented detail, a band of painted medieval decoration along the south wall, and long cusped and crocketed niches on either side of the east window. A shutter remains in the southern low side window. Early 18th-century altar rails with iron-twist balusters are present, along with three early 17th-century benches, one bearing the inscription "WM 1601", and a high-backed settle incorporating a 15th-century poppy-head bench end.