Church Of St Peter

Church of St Peter

Parish church standing on the site of a smaller earlier earthwork. The church was dedicated in 1311 and 1323 and dates principally to the early 14th century, though it has been substantially enlarged and altered in subsequent periods.

The building comprises a nave, chancel, and north and south transepts. The 15th-century north and south aisles were built with 14th-century arcades. The 15th century also saw the addition of north and south chancel chapels, a north vestry, and a two-storeyed north porch. The west tower was completed in the early 16th century but was rebuilt following lightning strike damage in 1872, when the church underwent restoration under Ashworth.

The church is constructed of granite ashlar, coursed rubble, and rendered chancel, with slate roofs throughout. The north aisle is coursed rubble with a corbelled parapet. The south aisle is of granite ashlar with an embattled parapet featuring gargoyles and depressed arch Perpendicular windows, some replaced with Y-tracery. Both aisles have shallow buttresses with set-offs. The north and south chapels are of ashlar with embattled parapets, shallow buttresses with set-offs, and four-light Perpendicular windows. The north aisle features coursed rubble with corbelled parapet and Perpendicular four-light windows, some replaced with Y-tracery.

The priest doorway on the south side of the south chapel is in a buttress and has a gable above it. The north vestry is positioned in the angle between the chancel chapel and sits against the chancel. It is of ashlar with an embattled parapet and canted bay window with four-centred arch lights. A 19th-century five-light Perpendicular sash window lights the chancel. The north and south transepts have four-light Perpendicular windows.

The two-storeyed north porch has corbelled battlements and a stair turret in the angle with the aisle. The inner doorway has fleurons in the arch and a hood mould with head steps. The inner and outer doors are 18th-century panelled work, with the outer door dated 1731. A small south porch features a chamfered two-centred arch with a sundial above.

The west tower is notably tall at 94 feet and rises in three stages of ashlar with setback buttresses with set-offs and battlements. Octagonal pinnacles rise from the bottom of the bell stage on corbels carved with angels. The bell-openings are three-light, and the west window is a four-light Perpendicular design without a hood mould. The west doorway is moulded.

Internally, the six-bay north and south arcades are notable for their unusual plain octagonal piers with heeled corbel capitals beneath the chamfers of two-centred arches. The crossing arches and two arches of the chapels date to the 15th century and feature four-centred forms with monolithic moulded granite piers and carved capitals. The tower arch is double-chamfered on polygonal piers. The nave roof is plastered and vaulted. The north aisle roof is flat with moulded ribs, diagonals, and large carved bosses, possibly constructed from parts of an earlier wagon roof. The transept roofs are late 19th-century arch-braced collar trusses. The south aisle roof dates to the 20th century. A piscina in the south chapel has an unmoulded two-centred arch.

An early 16th-century screen has been much rebuilt and reduced in height across the chancel. It features traceried wainscot with 32 painted panels across the width of the church. The aisle sections have lost their coving, and carving from the cornice has been applied to the spandrels. The parclose screens are less heavily restored. The screen beneath the tower arch appears to date to the 18th century.

The church contains a 17th-century octagonal carved stone font and a 12th-century font with a hemispherical bowl. Most of the carving on the 12th-century example has been cut away, though a short section remains showing palmettes and zigzag frieze below. A painted 20th-century wooden font cover is also present, as is another font of late 19th-century date. A late 19th-century reredos and 19th-century pews are in place.

Wall monuments in the chancel commemorate Richard Fownes (1680), Honar Edgcombe (1706), and George Legassicke (1789). In the north transepts are monuments to Thomas and John King (1792 and 1795) and Richard King (1811). The north arcade of the nave has a monument to Thomas Williams (1630). A medieval tomb slab lies on the floor of the chancel. In the north transept is a small brass depicting a woman, found in 1862 and reset in a frame on the wall.