Church Of St Peter

The Church of St Peter is a building with significant historical development spanning from the 12th century to the 19th century. The earliest parts of the church date to the 12th century, visible in the south door and the remaining walls. Elements from the 13th century remain in the chancel, while the tower was constructed in the 15th century. The south porch is 16th century, and the church was extensively restored in 1865, which included the addition of the north aisle and a north chancel chapel.

The church is built from roughly coursed flint and sandstone rubble, with ashlar quoin dressings, and heath-stone for the tower and north walls. Slate roofs, renewed to the north, cover the structure, topped by a wooden shingle broach spire. The church comprises a nave with a north aisle, a chancel extending eastward with a north chancel chapel and vestry, a south porch, and a square tower in the southwest corner. The tower features orbelled eaves and small, two-light, louvred openings near the top of each face, with smaller openings on the remaining sides. A larger window with plate tracery is located on the south side. The north aisle has three-light windows with cusped tracery, while the east end features large 19th-century windows. A single 13th-century lancet window is preserved in the south chancel wall. There are arched double doors to the west end of the north aisle and a single door connecting the tower to the west. The south door, dating back to approximately 1170, is framed by an arched stone surround with jamb shafts and a roll moulding. A timber-framed, gabled porch with cusped bargeboards and brick infilling stands to the south.

The interior features a tiled floor, a four-bay arcade with round piers separating the nave and north aisle, and a crown-post roof over the aisle. A 14th-century chalk chancel arch rests on restored half-octagonal responds. A two-bay arcade, with foliage capitals, connects the chancel to the north chapel. A 13th-century piscina is located on the south chancel wall. Decorative wavy edging is visible on the south door and the tower arch.

Notable fittings include a marble and mosaic reredos in the new chapel, 20th-century screens, a 19th-century stone pulpit, and a 17th-century octagonal wooden font with a lead-lined bowl supported by a central stem and eight detached columns. Monuments include a white stone monument on a grey stone base, commemorating Reverend John Harris, who died in 1759. It features flanking scrolls, an eared apron, a gadrooned base, and carvings of a skull, serpent, glass, floral garlands, and a cartouche. A monument to Judith Harris, who died in 1765, is located in the north arcade of the chancel and is a triangular white pyramid with a grey roundel and a cherubs’ head above the apron.