Church of Saint Peter

This Anglican parish church is built of local squared rubble sandstone with Bath stone dressings and red plain tile roofs (with banded tones on the chancel and organ chamber). It comprises a nave with aisles, chancel, south organ chamber, and west tower with broach spire exceeding 60 metres in overall height. The gables have copings with shoulders, and the windows feature ornate tracery with stone voussoirs above.

The Tower and Spire

The tower is relatively narrow but distinguished by ornately carved ashlar clasping octagonal buttresses at the west angles, rising to the base of the fourth stage. The bell-stage has quoins and ashlar battlements with corner angels, topped by a very tall recessed octagonal broached spire with finial and iron fleur-de-lys vane. The stages are divided by moulded strings.

The tall lowest stage has a heavy projecting plinth broken forward at the angles. North and south doors are moulded and pointed with ashlar gabled surrounds, hoodmoulds and carved head stops (including a green man stop to the left of the north door). A large traceried four-light west window has a hood and carved head stops. The doors have cover strips and iron strap hinges. The narrow second stage has two cusped single lights with hoods on the north and west, and one similar on the south. The tall third stage has no openings. The narrow bell-stage has ornate traceried pointed three-light openings with hoods and carved stops, with a heavy sill course below and string course above, leaving a narrow band below the battlements.

The ashlar angle features begin square at the plinth with ashlar chamfering, then broach to octagonal with chamfered moulding at the impost level of the west window. Each west face and outer face has a blind niche with a large crocketted canopy and crouching beasts. The second stage, also octagonal, has a string carried around from the hoodmoulds of the windows, with fierce carved dragons or monsters at the angles looking down. At the base is a section chamfered back to the third stage base, featuring a cluster of narrow crocketted gabled niches.

In the north angle between nave and tower is an ashlar insert repeating details of the front ashlar features but only on one diagonal face, stopped at the base of the third stage. In the south angle is an ashlar stair tower with quatrefoil roundel lights in the south-west face and a sloping ashlar cap at bell-stage level.

Nave and Aisles

The nave has paired dragons at the west gable shoulders. It is five bays long with curved-sided triangular clerestorey windows that are cusped. The aisles have large three-light pointed traceried windows—five on each side and one at each aisle end. There is a plinth, diagonal corner buttresses to the aisles, and side buttresses (two to the north, three to the south). A string course runs at the west end and on the buttresses.

The south aisle's fifth window has a hoodmould with head stops and an ashlar battlemented low gable. The buttress to the left is carried up to a gabled top.

Chancel and Organ Chamber

The north side of the chancel has three long pointed two-light windows with dwarf buttresses between. The east end has diagonal buttresses in two stages, a green man corbel at the south-east, and a very large pointed five-light window with hoodmould and head stops. The south side of the chancel has one narrow three-light window with hoodmould and carved head stops, and a large parallel-roofed organ chamber.

The organ chamber features an ashlar two-stage octagonal stair turret at the south-west corner with a battlemented top, narrow lancets to the cardinal faces of the top stage, a pointed door to the ground floor west, and quatrefoil stair lights to the south-west and south-east. The steep roof has coped gables. The south side has a pointed door with gable and carved angel stops, with a segmental-pointed three-light window to the right and two first-floor sexfoil roundels above. The east end has a similar three-light window and a cinquefoil roundel in the gable.

Interior

The walls are unpainted rendered with extensive ashlar dressings and much carved work. The tower entry has a timber ceiling with large ribs on pierced timber brackets from fine carved crouching beast corbels. The ribs have applied leaf carving as on the nave roof trusses. Pointed doors to the north and south have moulded arches and hoods with very large carved head stops. A small south door leads to the tower stair.

The nave has five-bay arcades of octofoil-section piers with keels to the diagonal shafts and naturalistic leaf capitals—two with tiny heads appearing. The moulded pointed arches have a chamfer each side of a hollow with ballflower ornament. A cornice runs under the shafted cinquefoil-cusped clerestorey windows. There is an ashlar moulded wall-plate and six angel corbels on each side carrying wall-posts and cusped arched braces with traceried spandrels to large tie-beam trusses with king-posts and two opposed curving struts each side. Ornate carved leafwork decorates the moulded tie-beams at the joint with brackets. The roof is panelled with horizontal strips. The aisle roofs have similar panels and straight braces out from corbels between arcade arches, with cusped spandrels. The floors are of coloured tiles.

The chancel arch is multi-shafted with leaf capitals and a moulded pointed arch. A cinquefoil light appears in the gable apex. At the nave west end, a chamfered pointed arch encloses the shafted tower arch with leaf capitals and moulded arch.

The chancel roof is boarded and panelled with carved bosses. An ornate ashlar cornice is broken forward over ornate leaf corbels. The three north windows have column shafts, hoods and winged cherub head stops, as does the similar south window. A broad shafted arch on the south side of the chancel and a narrower arch at the east end of the south aisle open onto the organ on an ornate Caen stone organ loft with pointed doors and small windows to the ground floor and a Gothic stone loft rail with carved heads. Vestries beneath the organ loft have a stone winding stair to the loft in the south-west corner.

The chancel has fine marble floors and steps of 1894 in green, red, white and grey marbles—one step to the chancel, two to the sanctuary, one to the altar. The sanctuary floor is mosaic. Red sandstone shafts frame an aumbry on the north side and triple sedilia on the south, with carved capitals and flat heads.

Fittings

The font of 1860 is of Caen stone with panelled sides, chamfered corners and an openwork shaft, located in the south aisle. An 1894 Italian marble carved angel carrying a shell stands by the west door. The Caen stone pulpit of 1860 is ornate with six statues of saints under canopies at the angles, pendants beneath, and winding timber stairs with an iron and brass rail. The three-sided Caen stone reading desk dated 1860 is ornate with open ogee-arched sides with carved spandrels and column shafts, with carving repeated even on the inside.

The tower screen of 1920 has blind Gothic panelling with a vine cornice under a cove and traceried glazing above in an arch. The organ by W.G. Vowles of Bristol dates from 1866 and has painted pipes.

The reredos of 1894 is ashlar with red marble column shafts, a large centre gable flanked by ogee-canopied statues of Saints Peter and Paul surmounted by large pinnacles, a gold mosaic centre panel with Lamb of God motif, a four-bay Gothic arcade each side with green marble infill to panels, and marble facing to the wall below. The chancel stalls have poppy-head bench ends. Pine pews are found elsewhere.

The north-east Lady chapel screen, altar and panelling date from around 1950 with a blue terrazzo bench and terrazzo floor. Two west end statues of Saints Peter and Paul stand in canopied niches. At the nave north-west corner is a vestry screen made up of finely traceried openwork late Gothic-style timber, formerly part of the organ case at All Saints Church, probably from around 1900–1910. A cove on the east side has carved bosses and a shield.

Stained Glass

The east window of 1894 or around 1907 depicts scenes of the Passion and Crucifixion, dedicated to W. Parsons and family, with rich colours by R.J. Newbery.

In the chancel north, the first window shows Saints Elizabeth of Hungary and Luke dedicated to Dr W.O. Evans around 1966, similar to the second window dedicated to Mona Evans and signed by Eric Dilworth of Twickenham 1966, showing Saints Anne and Agatha. The chancel north third window is around 1900, dedicated to children of Dr W.O. Evans, by A.L. Moore. The chancel south window dedicated to Mary Edmunds, 1954, by Celtic Studios, depicts Christ and Mary Magdalen.

The north aisle second window of 1922 by Kempe & Co shows Saints Teilo, David and Ciwg. The north aisle fourth window of 1885 has 14th-century style figures of Christ with Saints Peter and Mary, given by Griffith Lewis. The north aisle fifth window of 1968 depicts Christ stilling the tempest, dedicated to S. Lewis. The north aisle east window dedicated to Diana Lewis (died 1955) by Celtic Studios shows the Annunciation.

The south aisle third window dedicated to Eliza Gilbertson (died 1868) in the style of Clayton & Bell or Hardman depicts the Resurrection. The south aisle fourth window shows Christ at Bethany with Saint Luke and Mary of Bethany, dedicated to Dr G. Griffiths (died 1915) by A.L. Moore. The south aisle fifth window depicts the Nunc Dimittis, 1921 by Kempe & Co, dedicated to Lewis Lewis.

Memorials

A Gothic marble plaque of 1907 commemorates William Parsons (1795–1864), the donor.