Church Of St Peter And St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is an Anglican parish church of Norman origin, with substantial fabric dating to the 15th and 16th centuries, and a 19th-century restoration. It is constructed of Doulting ashlar with embattled lead sheeting and slate roofs. The church comprises a nave, chancel, north aisle and north aisle chapel, a 19th-century south organ loft replacing a former south porch, and a 19th-century vestry. The architectural style is Perpendicular.

The four-stage west tower is embattled, featuring corner buttresses with shafts and pinnacles connected across the angles, which ascend to large corner shafts topped with pinnacles. The bell-chamber has three-light traceried windows with a dense quatrefoil interlace. On the lower stages, there are blank two-light windows flanking niches intended for statuary, now missing. A 19th-century three-light window is set within an earlier label, with carved heads acting as stops. The west doorway also has a carved label with carved heads and a studded plank door bearing the inscription "1766." The north aisle and north aisle chapel have an embattled parapet with gargoyles and pinnacles, punctuated by three-light windows; one incorporates a doorway with a plank door and decorative strap hinges, alongside decorated boot scrapers. The east window of the north aisle chapel is a four-light design. The short chancel features a three-light east window and shows traces of Norman masonry. The south side of the nave has a carved Norman corbel table and a narrow semi-circular head window, alongside two two-light clerestory windows. The organ loft incorporates further remains of the corbel table, and the vestry has a two-light window, complemented by a bellcote.

Inside, the church features plastered walls, flagstone and marble floors, and 19th-century roofs, except for a 15th-century panelled lean-to to the aisle, which retains traces of painted decoration. A broad, panelled chancel arch leads into a lofty, triple-panelled tower arch. A four-bay arcade connects to the aisle, with piers displaying a four-hollows moulding. Robust angels form corbels supporting the former roofs in the nave and chancel. A restored Perpendicular stone screen separates the aisle from the chapel, with two niches featuring richly carved canopies. A good example of a Perpendicular font is present, alongside six 15th-century pews in the nave, and a detached section of a high-quality medieval traceried pew in the aisle. An altar table with carved caryatids stands in the chancel, along with a pulpit incorporating Jacobean elements within a late 19th-century design. A foiled piscina is also located within the chancel. There are good examples of 19th-century pews, choir stalls and an altar rail. An iron grille, designed by Singers of Frome and installed in 1878, separates the nave and chancel. The organ dates from 1899. The church also holds five 18th-century wall monuments, fourteen principal 19th-century monuments by Bath and Bristol firms, some high-quality 20th-century memorials, and a monument to the vestry dated 1528. Fragments of Norman carving are visible on the chancel wall. Nine 19th-century stained glass windows are present, along with fragments of medieval glass in the upper lights of the chapel window. A studded plank door facilitates access between the nave and vestry. Stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops are present in the lean-to roof.