Church Of St Peter

The Church of St Peter is an Anglican parish church on a site which incorporates earlier Roman remains. The building's origins lie in the early 12th century, with significant additions and alterations made in the 13th and 15th centuries. It was restored in 1882 by J.L. Pearson.

The church is constructed primarily of coursed herringbone flint with limestone quoining, with later work using random flint. The roofs are covered in lead, except for the nave which has been tiled. The church comprises a nave, an apsidal chancel, and a south porch. The north side of the nave contains one 12th-century window, while the chancel has two single, splayed windows with flush voussoirs; the outer arrises are slightly chamfered. There is no east window. A three-light bar tracery window dates to the 13th century and is located on the west side. Two 15th-century two-light windows have been inserted into the south side of the nave and chancel. Limestone quoins mark the springing of the apse. The nave and chancel were reroofed to a steep pitch in 1882, and the south porch was rebuilt in a 14th-century style. A lead-covered belltower with a pyramidal roof and an open traceried gallery sits over the west end of the nave.

The interior is a simple Romanesque two-cell structure. The nave measures 5.73 meters wide by 10.25 meters long, and its walls are 1.02 meters thick. A wide chancel arch is formed of two rings of voussoirs, interlocking in a 'V' shape toward the nave. The tall north and south doors have taller rere-arches, but are otherwise undecorated. The chancel contains two aumbries. A 19th-century barrel vault, boarded in a parquet fashion, covers the chancel and includes a semi-dome over the apse. The walls are painted by Clayton & Bell, with the upper parts outlined to resemble ashlar in a 14th-century style, possibly restoring original features. Two glass windows are also by Clayton & Bell. A 19th-century font, square in shape and in a Romanesque style, is present. A pulpit from around 1920 and pews and stalls designed by Pearson are also features. A painted reredos designed by Pearson and executed by Clayton & Bell, along with a 19th-century iron openwork sanctuary rail, are part of the furnishings. The south door to the nave is boarded and cross-battened with iron banding on its face, likely dating to the 12th century but rehung in the 19th century. An early 19th-century organ is housed in a later case.

The chancel contains three wall tablets made of white marble on the north side. The easternmost tablet features coloured arms over a segmental pediment, inscribed within a frame, and commemorates Mary Nicholas, who died in 1686. A second tablet, pedimented with a gadrooned string and a putto, is for Edward Nicholas, who died in 1706. A simpler tablet is for George Wells and his wife, who died in 1813. Within the nave, two tablets on grey marble backgrounds are present; one, by Reeves of Bath, commemorates John Grant and his wife, who died in 1810, while another is for Elizabeth Grank Meek and her sister, who died in 1956. A plain tablet by Reeves commemorates John Alexander, who died in 1836. There are also two 19th-century and one 20th-century brasses.