Church Of St Peter And St Paul

Church of St Peter and St Paul

This parish church in Weston-in-Gordano sits on the south side of High Street. The tower and porch date to around 1300 in Early English style, while the remainder is 15th century in Perpendicular style. A chapel is mentioned in a will of 1536. The building underwent various 19th-century restorations.

The tower and chapel are constructed in rubble with limestone dressings, while the rest of the building uses squared limestone freestone with limestone dressings. The roofs are plain tiled, with a slate pyramidal roof to the tower, and slate roofs with raised coped verges to the porch and chapel.

The church comprises a four-bay nave, south porch, south tower, chancel and south chapel. The nave has three pointed-arched two-light Perpendicular windows to the north. The second bay from the west features a round-headed door with step and hollow mouldings and hood mould, fitted with a heavy studded door with wide strap hinges. Wooden corbelled eaves run along the nave. A three-light similar window with hood mould and cross finial occupies the west end. To the south, there is a similar two-light window and a single trefoil-headed light to the right of the porch with flat hood mould. A plinth and stone bellcote with cusped openings adorn the exterior.

The gabled porch has a pointed-arched opening of two chamfered orders with hood mould, and a trefoil-headed lancet above. Lines of the former roof are visible on the nave wall and external wall of a stair to the right. A small single-storey addition stands between the porch and tower.

The four-stage tower features a two-light pointed-arched south window with Y-tracery and hood mould, pointed-arched lancets at the third stage on all sides, and two-light pointed-arched bell-openings at the fourth stage with wooden louvres and hood mould. String courses, corbelled at the fourth stage, a parapet and coping, and a cross finial complete the tower.

The two-bay chancel has a five-light Perpendicular east window with pointed arch, cusped heads (restored) and hood mould, with a quatrefoil in the gable and cross finial. A three-light south window with flat head and hood mould is partially obscured by the chapel. Two similar three-light north windows with continuous hood mould date from 19th-century restoration.

The one-bay chapel has three-light windows similar to those on the east and south, without hood mould to the south due to the eaves. It contains a pointed-arched blocked lancet above the east window and a south priest's door with pointed arch, moulded surround with two hollow chamfers, and hood mould with mask stops.

The interior nave has a common rafter roof with arched braces, collars and brattished wall-plate, mostly 19th-century with some re-used timbers. Notably, a moulded collar purlin with six bosses forms five bays, with moulding attached to arched braces dividing the bays. The principal arched braces and collar purlin are painted. Convex-moulded rere-arches run to all windows. A segmental-headed arch to the north door (now blocked) is visible. A plain stone pulpit set in the south wall has three steps and a pointed segmental-headed opening. A pointed stepped chamfered arch opens to the tower, with the inner arch replaced in 20th-century stone. A piscina sits to the west of the arch. An upper rood door above the piscina has a projecting stone at the cill. An image stand with foliate underside stands to the north of the chancel arch. The wide pointed chancel arch displays wave mouldings and hollow chamfer. An image niche with trefoil head sits beside the south door to the porch, with a rere-arch as on the north door. The pointed-arched doorway to the porch has mouldings matching the chancel arch, hood mould, and a heavy studded door with wide strap hinges.

The porch has a 19th-century common rafter roof with collars and brattished wall-plate. Stone benches line both sides. An ogee-headed chamfered doorway leads to a stone stair to the parvise. A wooden gallery spans the top of the inner door with brattished top and panelled underside in 16 panels. A Perpendicular image niche above the door features painting. The lancet in the outer gable has a deep reveal. A possible holy water stoup recess to the right is now blocked. The inner architrave of the outer door comprises two chamfered orders.

The tower contains a ceiling with four chamfered beams, probably re-used, with mortices. Five steps lead up to a door to the rood loft with segmental head. A four-centred arched chamfered opening to the south chapel has mortices, possibly for a draw-bar to a former door, set within a larger pointed-arched opening, probably altered when the south chapel was added.

The chancel was considerably restored in the 19th century and has cambered moulded rere-arches to north and south windows, with moulding continuing on jamb shafts. A cill string runs along the north, south and east. The east window has similar mouldings around the pointed arch and is topped by a heavy limestone cornice. A pointed-arched piscina, mostly of 19th-century restoration, stands to the south. A pointed arch to the chapel displays wave and hollow mouldings and jamb shafts with polygonal bases.

The chapel has a 19th-century common rafter and collar roof. Two image stands on the east wall feature foliate undersides to the left. Two plain aumbries occupy the south wall. A segmental-headed south priest's door with two narrow convex mouldings has similar jamb shafts to the south window.

Fittings include a Norman font in the nave, a square bowl with scalloped sides on a circular stem. A wooden pulpit in the nave features three sides of 17th-century carved panels. Plain pews with lozenge-shaped poppy-heads fill the interior. Fine choir stalls in the chancel display eight misericords showing a peacock, foliage and human heads. A 19th-century wooden Perpendicular-style screen spans the chancel arch. In the north wall of the nave stands a fine Perpendicular tomb to Rychards Percyvale, dated 1483, featuring an ogee crocketed hood, crocketed pinnacles, brattished top and cusped panels along the front. Above the recess are three angels in haut-relief, with a shield of arms above the canopy and a grate with wrought-iron railings and spear tops. A marble tablet in the chapel commemorates Henry Pyne, 1825, by Post of Bristol. Fifteenth-century fragments of stained glass in the east and south windows of the chapel show figures of angels, some with musical instruments.