Church of St Peter is a Grade II* listed building in the Test Valley local planning authority area, England. First listed on 17 November 1986. Church.
Church of St Peter
- WRENN ID
- open-loft-moss
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Test Valley
- Constituency
- Romsey and Southampton North MP: Caroline Nokes (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 17 November 1986
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of St Peter, Church Lane, Melchet Park and Plaitford
- OS grid reference
- SU 277 203
- Coordinates
- 50.98158, -1.6056
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Peter is a parish church that dates back to the 13th century, featuring a chancel and nave under one roof, along with a south vestry that may have originally served as a chapel. It was restored in 1856, during which a northern porch was added. The church is constructed from coursed flint, with some decorative brick courses, dark ironstone, and 19th-century Bath limestone dressings, topped by an old plain tile roof.
The layout consists of a chancel and nave under the same roof, with the south chapel or vestry located east of the center and significantly altered. The church has a west bellcote topped with a spire. The east end features a 19th-century triple stepped lancet window and a plinth with a 17th-century brick offset. On the north side of the chancel, there is a single pointed lancet, while the nave has a double lancet to the west. The central open gabled porch is made of carved timber with arcaded sides, and inside is a 13th-century chamfered pointed doorway leading to a 19th-century door. The west side has a pointed lancet, and on the south side next to the vestry, there is a 19th-century pointed lancet in the chancel. The vestry features a similar window on the east side and a small 13th-century pointed lancet to the south, topped with a hipped roof. The nave has a double pointed lancet on the west side of the vestry, a blocked 13th-century pointed doorway in the center, and a 19th-century pointed lancet at the west end. The west end also has two 19th-century single lancets and a triangular six-foiled window in the gable, above a small bellcote with louvred openings on each face and a boached spire.
Inside the chancel, there are 19th-century rear arches. The south wall contains a 13th-century trefoiled piscina and a chamfered round-headed niche that holds 28 medieval decorated tiles. At the southeast of the nave, there is a pointed door leading to the vestry. The chancel has two steps, with the upper step featuring trefoiled arcaded altar rails. The nave includes 19th-century rear arches. To the west of the doorways, there is a 19th-century gallery with a painted blind arcaded timber front, supported by slender cast iron columns. Under the gallery is a recarved 13th-century font with an octagonal bowl and spurs forming a square lower part on a large cylindrical stem, which is supported by four marble corner columns. The roof was replaced in the 19th century with arched brace trusses, and the crennelated wallplate and rafters are exposed in the chancel. All furnishings date from the 19th century.
Local climate
Church of St Peter receives an average of 780 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 61% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 64% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 28 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 70% of listed buildings. Of these, 10 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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