Church Of St Peters

The Church of St Peter's, built between 1721 and 1724 by James Gibbs, originally served as the Oxford Chapel for the Chandos Estate. It is constructed of brown brick with red brick dressings and Portland stone, featuring rusticated quoins and a slate roof. The exterior presents a simple preaching box appearance, with semicircular and segmental arched windows. The long sides are adorned with a block bracketed cornice and parapet, while the gable ends are pedimented. At the west end, there is a small square brick bell tower topped with a bracketed cornice and a domed octagonal two-stage lead cupola. The west end also features a Doric tetrastyle stone pediment situated between architraved doorways with pediments.

Inside, the church has been altered by screening off the aisles below the galleries, yet it remains a miniature forerunner of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Giant columns on pedestals rise to cross-vaults and a segmental nave ceiling. The shallow sanctuary and main ceiling showcase delicate Rococo plasterwork by Bagutti. The stained glass in the east window, created by Burne Jones (Morris & Co), dates from 1871, with additional stained glass in the south window from 1882 and the north window from 1889.