Church Of St Peter

The Church of St Peter is a parish church dating to the 14th and 15th centuries, with significant restoration work undertaken in the mid-19th century by S.S. Teulon and again in 1889. The building comprises a nave, chancel, north chantry chapel, south porch, and a west tower. It is constructed of random flint with freestone dressings, and has plaintiled roofs. The south wall of the nave displays remnants of coursed flintwork. The church features two 2-light and one single-light windows on the south side, and one on the north, all replacements from the mid-19th century in the Decorated style. The chancel’s south wall includes a blocked priest's doorway with a rectangular stone surround and a single-light pointed window with heavily eroded cusping. A 5-light east window with reticulated tracery was added in the mid-19th century.

The west tower is square, unbuttressed, and consists of three stages built of knapped flint. A small stair turret is linked to the west end of the nave. Inside the church, two funeral hatchments are affixed to the walls. The late 15th century south porch, considerably restored, has an open timber roof with embattled cornice ornamentation. Graffiti exists on the window jambs, with the earliest dated 1580. A plain 13th-century south doorway allows entry. Inside the nave are remnants of wall-painting and consecration crosses on either side of the west tower arch. The north wall displays a Carolean Royal Arms, a memorial to James Calthorpe (1784), a 20th-century tablet commemorating Jeremy Collier, bishop and historian and rector of Ampton (1679-84), and a fragment of a 15th-century brass. A stone slab with another brass fragment sits adjacent to the north chapel.

The chantry chapel features an entrance arch inscribed “CAPELLA PERPETUE CANTARIE JOH’IS COKET” and was built in 1479. The four 19th-century restored windows contain armorial glass, depicting the Calthorpe family and others. A medieval stone coffin lid is set into the east wall. A 20th-century mosaic on the west jamb of the entrance arch commemorates the use of Ampton Hall as a war hospital between 1915 and 1919. A holy water stoup and a memorial to Dorothy Calthorpe (1693), featuring a kneeling figure, are located in the south wall of the nave. Other furnishings include an early 18th-century pulpit with a sounding board, and the remains of the rood loft stair behind it. The church’s furnishings include 19th-century pews, a font, and a timber roof in the chancel, with arched braces, embattled collars, and brightly painted 17th-century strapwork decoration. A plain piscina is also present. 18th-century communion rails with turned balusters and a moulded handrail are in place. Monuments to William Whettell (1629), by Nicholas Stone, and Sir Henry Calthorpe (1640), by John & Matthaias Christmas are also located within the chancel. The church holds a copy of the rare 'Sealed Book' of 1662.