Church Of St Peter

The Church of St Peter is a parish church largely dating from the 13th, 15th, and 19th centuries, with some Norman fabric in the nave. The church stands in Exton Village. The building is constructed of random rubble local slate, with areas of pebbledash, and has slate and asbestos slate roofs with decorative ridge tiles and coped verges.

The church comprises a crenellated two-stage west tower, a three-bay nave and north aisle, a south porch, and a chancel. The tower has diagonal buttresses to the second stage, a northwest buttress dated 1928, a lancet bell opening at the top, a wooden louvred opening with a lancet window below on the south face, and no west door. The tower and main part of the aisle contain three-light cinquefoil-headed mullioned windows, except the chancel, which has simpler windows. A single-storey gabled porch stands on the south side, featuring moulded arch openings, a 19th-century door, a slate floor laid in a chequerboard pattern, a trefoil-headed statue niche above the door, and a slate tablet commemorating Ann Norris who died in 1717. The chancel includes a chamfered pointed arch to the priest’s door, a two-light window on the right, and a three-light east window. The north aisle has three windows along the north front, with a blocked central opening set between large buttresses with slate tops.

Inside, the walls are rendered and quoins to window openings and the tower arch are exposed. A standard Perpendicular three-bay arcade separates the nave and aisle. The chancel arch is unmoulded with chamfered jambs, while the tower arch is pointed. The chancel has a collar beam roof with struts; in the nave and aisle, remnants of an earlier wagon roof remain, now open to reveal new bosses. A hagioscope is located in the north aisle wall. A glass mosaic reredos, dating from around 1890, is present. Medieval tiles line the altar step. A pulpit made of 18th- and 19th-century panelling has been reset within the church. Also, a Perpendicular font and stained glass windows, including one by Lavers, Barrand and Westlake dated 1886, are present. A south chancel window features portraits of the donors, one of whom died in 1867. A fine painted and gilded wooden panel commemorates Rose Pearse, who died in 1712, and her husband Robert, who died in 1732, depicting cherubs, skulls, and flowers. A black and white wall tablet commemorates Martha Williams, who died in 1826, and was made by Lancaster and Walker of Bristol.