Church Of St Peter

UPPER SLAUGHTER SP 1523 9/176 Church of St Peter 25.8.60 GV II*

Parish church. C12 and C13 or early C14 chancel, C14 towel (upper part C15), alterations of 1822, added Witts Mortuary Chapel of 1854 by Francis Niblett, a Gloucestershire gentleman architect, and careful restoration of 1877 by J E K Cutts. Rubble, partly coursed, Cotswold stone roofs. 4 bay C12 nave with north aisle; tower inserted into west bay in C14; south porch with an assembly of carved C12 fragments, 3 bay chancel with Witts chapel to north. C15 sanctus turret. NW and N aisle window largely 1877, or re-set then, in Perpendicular style when the Rev F E Witts's Georgian preaching box of 182 was re-Gothicized. 3 stage west tower re-Using Norman orders, vault and corbels presumably from a tower further west (by 1 bay); battlement and pinnacles. Niblett's NE chapel, a mortuary chapel for the Rev F E Witts, is typical of his use of the Decorated style in a wayward manner; cross-looped stair turret to west, gabled break with quatrefoil for tomb recess and east window with crocketted label; enriched cornice. Interior: tower arch and vault:- impressive jumble of re-used Norman material, further carved Norman corbels in deadening chamber. 3 bay restored arcade with lightly enriched scallop caps. Chancel arch also by Niblett in 'modern Norman'. Two fonts, one C15 restored, an octagonal chalice type, C13 piscina in chancel; C14 easter sepulchre now plugged by a provincial baroque monument to Frances and Andrew Wanley died 1682. Other monuments listed by Buildings of England Series, D Verey, Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds (1970). Good stained glass by Clayton and Bell; Mortuary Chapel has faded Hardman glass; the marble Witts tomb which cost £1000 is signed Waller; tiles and part of ceiling patterning survive in Mortuary Chapel. Not mentioned in Domesday Book, but in the Civil War the Abbot of Gloucester complained that the church had been used for defensive purposes - perhaps that church was partially destroyed as there is evidence of both early and mid C12 work. VCH, Vol Vl: DOE Verey, Glos: The Cotswolds 1970; Report to HBC Churches Committee, 1982.

Listing NGR: SP1547923229