Church of St Peter. Railings on East and South Sides of Churchyard is a Grade I listed building in the Dorset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 8 May 1950. A C15 Church.

Church of St Peter. Railings on East and South Sides of Churchyard

WRENN ID
old-slate-tallow
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Dorset
Constituency
West Dorset MP: Edward Morello (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
8 May 1950
Type
Church
Address
Church of St Peter. Railings on East and South Sides of Churchyard, High Street West, Dorchester
OS grid reference
SY 692 907
Coordinates
50.71554, -2.43688
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of St Peter is a parish church largely dating to around 1420, with the north and south chapels added slightly later. A vestry and chancel were added in 1856-7 by John Hicks and Thomas Hardy. The church is constructed of hammer-dressed limestone with Ham stone ashlar dressings, and has a pitched stone slate roof to the nave and tiles to the chancel, with a lean-to roof over the aisles. A moulded plinth and eaves cornices run along the exterior. The aisle roofs have a parapet, crenellated along the south side and around the vestry. There are prominent buttresses with set-backs, featuring very fine grotesques on the eaves cornice and crocketed pinnacles placed diagonally above each. Perpendicular tracery is found in all the windows.

The tower has a moulded plinth, two strings, an eaves cornice and crenellated parapet. A polygonal stair tower is located at the north-east corner, featuring angle buttresses with set-backs, gargoyles at the eaves cornice and crocketed pinnacles above. The upper stage of the tower has tall bell openings with transoms and Perpendicular tracery. A pitched-roof porch fronts the south doorway, which is a reset pointed arch with two orders of zig-zag and one order of foliage decoration.

Inside, notable monuments include two 14th-century effigies of recumbent knights, presumed to have been reset, in the window embrasures of the south chapel. A 14th-century tomb chest, also believed to be reset, is set into the north wall of the chancel, featuring a quatrefoil-panelled front and a cusped ogee arched recess with flanking crocketed pinnacles. The sarcophagus of Sir John and Lady Williams of Herringstone (dated 1617) is in the north chapel, featuring a canopy supported on Corinthian columns with a round-arched centre. The semi-reclining effigy of Denzil, Lord Holles, is located in the north aisle, set on a gadrooned sarcophagus within a curtained aedicule flanked by weeping putti. The style of this monument, sharing similarities with monuments at Beaminster and Sherborne, suggests Nost as a possible sculptor. A Jacobean wooden pulpit stands within the church, and a reredos (dating to 1894-7) was designed by C E Ponting of Marlborough. The Royal Arms, bearing the "CR" monogram, are located beneath the tower. Victorian benches and tiles are present in the chancel.

The churchyard is enclosed by iron railings and gates featuring spear finials and elaborate open-work iron piers.

The church is part of a group that includes numbers 48 to 65A (consec), the Shire Hall, Holy Trinity Church, the Museum, and a monument to William Barnes in the churchyard immediately south of the West Tower.

Local climate

Church of St Peter. Railings on East and South Sides of Churchyard receives an average of 840 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 55% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 77% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 13 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 88% of listed buildings. Of these, 5 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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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Monument to William Barnes in Churchyard Immediately South of West Tower Grade II 16 m
  2. Municipal Buildings Grade II* 31 m
  3. 1, Cornhill Grade II 34 m
  4. 1 and 2, High West Street Grade II 35 m
  5. Dorset County Museum Grade II 35 m
  6. The Town Pump Grade II 37 m
  7. 26, High East Street Grade II 39 m
  8. 65 and 65a, High West Street Grade II 40 m
  9. 2 and 2a, Cornhill Grade II 41 m
  10. 28, High East Street Grade II 43 m