Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a parish church with fragmentary remains of a 12th century structure built by Brian de Insula. It was enlarged in the mid-15th century, with the North or Cheke Chapel added in the 16th century. The church underwent restoration in 1863, during which the window tracery, nave arches and piers, roofs, and walls were reconstructed. It is constructed from Isle of Wight stone rubble with ashlar dressings and features a tiled roof along with a shingled spire.

The church includes a nave with aisles, a west tower with a spire, a chancel, a north chapel, and a south porch. The west tower, dating from the 15th century, is relatively low and has a crenellated parapet, a round-headed arched bell storey, and a recessed shingled spire topped with a weathervane. The nave and the north and south aisles are also from the 15th century and are designed in the Perpendicular style, featuring two double cinquefoil-headed lights and a deep plinth. The south porch, added in the 19th century, is gabled with stone coping and a cross-shaped saddlestone.

Inside, the chancel has two restored cinquefoil-headed light windows, and the east window features 19th century intersecting tracery. The north chapel has 19th century double arched windows and a triple arched east window. The interior nave consists of two bays supported by Perpendicular octagonal piers with double chamfered arches, while the bases of the north arcade date back to around 1200. The chancel arch is in the Perpendicular style, but its base is from the 12th century. The tower arch is also Perpendicular and notably narrow.

Notable interior features include a fine Jacobean pulpit with floral designs on the top panels and a diamond motif on the lower panels, as well as a Victorian font. The north chapel, built in the 16th century, has three bays with thin piers that have four shafts and hollows, along with four-centred arches. There is a tomb chest dedicated to Jane Freake, the wife of Robert Dillington, who died in 1674. This stone chest features one round-headed arch on the ends and two on the sides, complete with keystones and impost blocks. John Bernard Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone (1868-1947), is buried here. The Parclose screen and furnishings were designed by John, the architect son of General Jack Seely. The chancel tie beams are dated 1628, and the roof was boarded using wood from the wreckage of the 'Cedarine', a convict ship that sank off the coast in 1862.