Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a parish church largely dating from the early to mid-14th century, with significant restoration work undertaken around 1719, further alterations in 1830, and the addition of a rood screen around 1910. The church is constructed of squared and coursed chert stone, with a roughcast west end and tower featuring Ham stone dressings and quoins, and limestone dressings elsewhere. The roofs are slate, with coped verges and decorative ridge tiles.

The church comprises a west tower, a south-east stair turret, a four-bay nave and south aisle with a chapel, a blocked south porch, and a chancel set at an angle to the nave. The two-stage tower is diagonally buttressed and crenellated, with obelisks in the angles, gargoyles, string courses, and two-light bell openings with wooden boards imitating Somerset tracery. A lancet window is set in the west side, and a four-centred arch doorway is present, complete with a hoodmould and a 19th-century door. The stair turret is crenellated and rises to the first stage, featuring a two-light window. The south aisle has a buttressed section with a window, and a single-story gabled porch. The east windows of the aisle and chancel are four-light, with a two-light window to the south side of the chancel and two to the north. A rood stair projection is visible, along with stepped buttresses on the north wall of the nave, two three-light windows to the left and one to the right, and a truncated three-light window above a blocked pointed arch opening, chamfered in two orders.

Inside, the church is rendered. A four-bay pointed arch arcade separates the nave and aisle, featuring unusual piers with colonnettes and irregular mouldings. The rear arches are moulded, with colonnettes flanking the nave and aisle windows. A chamfered chancel arch, altered in the 19th century, leads to the south chapel, which originally contained a tomb and is distinguished by a double roll-moulded arch with a leafband capital on the south side. A trefoil-headed hagioscope is incorporated into the west pier. The tower arch is partially obscured by a gallery. The chancel has a ribbed wagon roof with floral bosses; the nave has a plaster barrel vault with a ridge purlin, and the aisle has a moulded wagon roof. The nave and aisle are filled with box pews, and a west gallery is supported by cast iron columns and features earlier bench ends, some dating back to the mid-16th century. A fine Jacobean pulpit is also present. A Norman font, described by Pevsner as an unfinished example of the Bodmin type, is located within the church. A rood screen from the early 20th century has been added. Late 19th-century stained glass is found in the east windows, while remnants of medieval stained glass are present in the upper lights of the eastern aisle windows and the western window of the nave. Minton tiles are incorporated into the sanctuary. A Royal Coat of Arms, believed to be that of Queen Victoria, is also displayed. A lead panel in the base of the tower is dated 1719, likely removed from the tower roof. A table, dated 1623, features turned legs and carved sections, possibly remodelled. Overall, the church’s interior is of considerable interest.