Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a parish church largely dating to the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, with potential remnants of a Norman church. It was restored by J. D. Sedding around 1889. The church is constructed of stone rubble with freestone dressings and slate roofs. The nave and chancel are unified, the chancel dating to the 14th century. A priest’s door on the south side features a multi-cusped ogee arch. The east window is a five-light Perpendicular design. There are 14th-century north and south transepts with curvilinear and Perpendicular traceried windows. Long north and south aisles extend from the nave, incorporating three-light Perpendicular windows and a four-light Perpendicular east window, all from the 15th century. A late 15th-century south door is distinguished by a massive moulded granite four-centred arch with carved spandrels; the rear arch within is round. An approximately 14th-century porch sits in the angle of the west end of the south aisle, featuring an undressed slate two-centred arch. Buttresses with set-offs are present on the walls around the building. The tall west tower is of circa 13th century origin, characterized by thin corner buttresses, each with one set-off. It contains small lancet bell-openings, a 19th-century Perpendicular west window, and an embattled parapet resting on a corbel table. A circa early 14th century stone needle-spire with a conspicuous twist rises above the tower; the spire was rebuilt in the 1850s, preserving the original twist.

Inside, the church includes a 15th-century five-bay north arcade and a three-bay south arcade, extending further into two smaller bays leading to the chancel aisle, all featuring moulded four-centred arches supported by monolithic granite piers. Each pier is defined by four shafts with hollows in the diagonals and moulded capitals and bases. Similar transept arches are present. A tall, unceiled wagon roof covers the interior, and a C19 stonework replaces the original. There are multi-cusped and ogee-headed piscinas in the south transept and on the south wall of the chancel, together with another cusped arch piscina in the south transept. Doorways and stairs to a rood loft are found within the south aisle. A restored mid-17th-century wooden rood-screen incorporates 19th-century columns replacing the original balusters and has an entablature with a carved frieze. A screen within the tower arch is characterized by twisted balusters. Late 19th-century furnishings, many by J.D. Sedding, include carved choir stalls, benches, parclose screens, a pulpit, lectern, font cover, and a large alabaster reredos depicting the Adoration. Monuments include the tomb chest with brass effigies of William Strashleigh (1583) and his wife, located in the south chapel; a wall monument to Adrian Swete (1733) in the south aisle; and a wall monument to Margaret Rich (1675) on the south side of the nave. A niche within the porch contains the head of a 15th-century cross.