Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a parish church largely dating to the 12th century, with significant additions and alterations spanning the 14th to 19th centuries. A western end was added in the 15th century, a north transept in the 14th and 16th centuries, and a south porch in the 16th century. The chancel is from the 13th and 14th centuries. A north aisle and bell tower were constructed in 1893. The church underwent extensive restoration in the late 19th century.

The exterior is constructed of flint with stone dressings and lead roofs, with roughcast and pebbledash rendering. The west bay features a slate roof, diagonal buttresses, and a shingled bell tower with a pyramidal lead roof and three triangular louvres on each side. It has a moulded door and a three-light Perpendicular traceried window above. A chamfered lancet window and a high blocked slit window are also present on the south side of the west bay. The south side of the nave displays three 14th and 15th century two-light traceried windows, the rightmost window being unusually tall. A late 12th century south door has a pointed arch decorated with dogtooth and double roll mouldings, with flanking shafts, the left of which has a carved foliage capital. It is approached by a gabled porch. The 19th century north aisle has two two-light and one three-light traceried windows. The north transept is characterised by diagonal buttresses and 15th and 16th century windows with Tudor hoodmoulds. The north window is a three-light design with carved head stops and a single cusped light above in the gable, while the east window is a two-light design. The chancel has two bays of two-light traceried windows, one to the north with a flat head, and a three-light traceried east window. A small chamfered south door provides access.

Inside, the nave has a double-chamfered arch to the north transept, and a matching three-bay arcade on octagonal piers to the north aisle. A large arched squint opens to the north of the chancel arch. The nave’s roof has been restored and features carved spandrels supported by carved head and angel corbels. The north transept features a cinquefoil piscina and a good 15th and 16th century roof with arched wind-braces and cusped principals to the central truss. The pointed chancel arch incorporates re-used chevron ornament and a slender shaft on each side. The north wall has a cusped aumbry with a slightly ogee head and a traceried piscina, flanked by finials and an aumbry to the right, and a window-seat sedilia. An octagonal font, likely 13th century and altered in the 15th and 16th centuries, has a moulded rim. Other fittings and glass are from the late 19th century. The church contains brasses to Bartholomew Tipping and his wife Martha (1632), two brasses depicting knights on the jambs of the chancel arch, a memorial tablet with carved festoons and putti to Bartholomew Tipping (1680), founder of the free school, a white marble tablet to Bartholomew Tipping (1738), and late 18th century memorial tablets to the Mason family in the nave. Stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops are visible in some areas.