Church of St Peter

Details

823/12/1

EASTHOPE
EASTHOPE
Church of St Peter

09-MAR-70

II
DATES OF MAIN PHASES, NAME OF ARCHITECT: Medieval church rebuilt by Nicholson & Clarke after a fire in 1928, with glass by Kempe & Tower.

MATERIALS: Local rubble siltstone with freestone dressings, under graded stone-tile roofs

PLAN: Nave and chancel under a single roof, west belfry, south porch and north vestry.

EXTERIOR: The church has a mixture of Gothic and domestic Tudor windows. In the nave south wall is a three-light square-headed mullioned-and-transomed window (replacing a wood-mullioned window). Only the C16 three-light square-headed west window survived the fire. On the north side is a small window and external stone chimney. In the chancel is a cusped pointed south window and two-light Decorated east window. In the north wall of the chancel is a priests' door with limestone surround including a large lintel. The porch has a segmental arch with wooden gates, and on its left side is an added open-fronted lean-to set back, which obscures one of the bullseye side windows. The south doorway has a depressed arch, and a surround of imported tufa. The belfry is timber-framed, painted black with white rendered panels, under a pyramidal roof. Paired louvered bell openings are in each face. The north vestry has a three-light north window.

INTERIOR: Walls are of exposed stonework. A continuous five bay collar-beam roof has two purlins each side, plastered behind. In a sixth bay to the west end is a panelled bell chamber. The floor has small flagstones, with boarded floors beneath the pews. In the porch are reclaimed encaustic tiles.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: Some fixtures were rescued from the old church. The communion rail is C18 with turned balusters, and spans the chancel. On the south wall, next to the pulpit, is a rare wrought-iron hour-glass stand, dated 1662 and with the initials SS (Samuel Steadman, the incumbent). It is fixed to the wall by an iron bracket. The chancel screen, dated 1931 on a plaque, is three bays, with open-arcaded dado to the wider outer bays, ogee-headed tracery in the main lights, beneath cornice and brattishing. The central bay has projecting pinnacles, surmounted by angels, and an ogee arch surmounted by a cross. The octagonal font is on a broad pedestal and base. The freestone polygonal pulpit has open Gothic panelling and marble shafts, very dated by the 1920s. Pews have plain ends with sunk quatrefoils incorporated into the arm rests. There is a metal memorial plaque to Col George Benson, killed in 1900 in the Boer War. Two stained-glass windows are by Kempe & Tower. The east window depicts the Annunciation, originally by C.E. Kempe and rescued from the fire, but restored and reinstated in 1937. The chancel south window shows the crucifixion, 1933.

HISTORY: Set in a round churchyard away from the village, suggesting an early origin. The earliest datable features were the C14 chancel windows, but the church suffered a serious fire in 1928 and was subsequently substantially rebuilt by Nicholson & Clarke of Hereford. Positions of the windows remained the same, but only the nave west window survived the fire. Some fixtures were saved, including the communion rails, hourglass holder, and a window by Kempe, restored by Kempe & Tower before reinstatement.

SOURCES:
DC Cox, Sir Stephen Glynne's Church Notes for Shropshire, 1997, p 38.
J Newman and N Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Shropshire, 2006, p 256.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
The church of St Peter, Easthope, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It has special interest as a medieval church of C12 origin but rebuilt after a fire in 1928, in a conservative, rather Arts and Crafts manner.
* Furnishings include a rare C17 hour glass holder.

Listing NGR: SO5660695125

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

254707

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry