Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a parish church dating back to circa 1200, with a 15th-century Perpendicular north tower and porch. It was restored between 1873 and 1874, with the addition of a south vestry. The church is constructed of flint and has a plain tiled roof. It comprises a chancel and chapel, a nave and aisle, a north tower, and a south vestry.

The two-stage northern tower has offset angle buttresses. The north doorway in the tower leads to a vaulted porch, which has a chamfered quadripartite vault and a large central boss depicting a bearded male face. The window openings are largely restored, but lancets are present in the north aisle and chapel. The head of the chapel’s east window is original, featuring three quatrefoils.

Inside, the two-bay north arcade has simple chamfered arches on square piers with moulded abaci. A similar arch connects the north aisle to the north chapel. The nave features C19 waggon vault roofs with two crown posts. A C19 chancel arch is present, along with a restored, double-chamfered two-bay arcade to the north chapel, resting on a central pier of four clustered columns.

The church contains a restored two-seater sedilia, featuring an original central shaft with a trefoiled leaf capital and a drip mould resting on an angel boss. A simple, chamfered double piscina is also present. Remnants of C19 chancel decoration remain, including crocketed recesses on either side of the east window and stylised flower panels on the walls. A piscina and aumbry are found in the north chapel, partially encased in early 20th-century panelling. The lectern, designed by J.P. Seddon, is made of brass and has two attached candle brackets and three spear-headed shafts around a central twisted stem.

The disused font bowl, dated 1628 and made of lead, features seven repeated figures of the nude Venus bearing a torch. A wall plaque commemorates John Minet, Rector of Eyethorne, who died in 1774; it is made of white marble with foliated and scrolled sides and a pediment-shaped cornice. Another wall monument in the north chapel commemorates Susanna Sankey, who died in 1799. The monument is made of Coade stone and features a simple inscription panel with an egg and tongue frieze forming a base to a sarcophagus on claw feet, topped with a draped medallion of a woman and a funerary urn on brackets.