Details
COUND C.P. COUND
SJ 50 NE
SJ 5504
4/83 and 13/83
Church of St Peter
13.6.58
GV
I
Parish church. C13 nave, C13 south aisle rebuilt in the C14, C15 west
tower, north aisle of 1841 or 1842, built at the expense of Frances
Thursby, chancel of 1862 by S. Pountney Smith, built at the expense
of the Rev. Henry Thursby-Pelham, M.A. of Cound Hall (q.v.), nave and
south aisle restored in 1843 and in 1891, and the vestry added in 1891.
Dressed red, yellow and grey sandstone with ashlar dressings, chancel
of snecked dressed red sandstone with red and yellow ashlar dressings;
plain tile roofs. 4-bay nave, 3-bay south aisle with porch, 4-bay north
aisle, higher 4-bay chancel with north vestry and organ chamber and
west tower; C19 additions in a C14 Gothic style. Tower: 2 stages,
with plinth, diagonal buttresses with 7 offsets, moulded string, parapet
string with carved gargoyles, battlemented parapet with 8 pinnacles, and
low pyramidal cap with weathervane; north-east stair turret: with square
first stage chamfered to 3-sided belfry-stage, chamfered top, and
chamfered rectangular openings; 4-centred arched louvred belfry openings
with 3 ogee-headed lights and moulded reveals; quatrefoiled square
sounding holes beneath belfry openings to north and south with returned
hoodmoulds, small rectangular plaque to west above string with moulded
surround and clock above; probably reused C14 west window with 3
cinquefoil-headed lights, intersecting tracery with cinquefoils, moulded
reveals, and hoodmould with weathered carved stops. South aisle:
chamfered plinth, diagonal buttresses, and parapeted gable ends, that
to west with carved head at foot; windows with 2 trefoiled ogee-headed
lights, reticulated tracery with quatrefoils, moulded reveals and hood-
moulds with carved stops; east window with 3 trefoiled ogee-headed
lights, reticulated tracery with quatrefoils, moulded reveals, and hood-
mould with carved stops; central south doorway with continuous quarter-
round mouldings and probably late C14 door with ogee-headed panels,
brattishing, pierced quatrefoils above, large wrought iron strap hinges,
nails, keyplate and ring; gabled south porch off-centre to left: C14,
altered probably in 1891; moulded red sandstone reveals, pair of C19
boarded doors with flanking paired leaded cinquefoil-headed side-lights,
moulded cambered tie-beam, and boarded tympanum; interior with moulded
cambered tie-beam, moulded wall-plates with run-out stops, collar and
tie-beam truss roof with single purlins and chamfered windbraces. North
aisle: diagonal buttresses, chamfered offset at cill level, chamfered
eaves with corbels, and parapeted gable ends; windows with 2 cinquefoil-
headed lights, sexfoils in tracery, chamfered reveals, and hoodmoulds;
west end with chamfered rectangular window and small quatrefoiled square
window in apex of gable. Chancel: chamfered plinth, angle buttresses,
coped parapeted gable ends with trefoil-gabled kneelers; windows of 2
trefoil-headed lights with quatrefoils and cinquefoils in tracery,
chamfered reveals, and hoodmoulds with carved stops; central porch to
south with chamfered plinth, roll-moulded corners, string half-way up
parapeted gable, and entrance with roll-moulded Caernarvon arch and
boarded door with wrought iron strap hinges; large east window of 5
trefoil-headed lights with Geometrical tracery consisting of cusped
circles, chamfered reveals, and hoodmould with carved stops. Organ
chamber and vestry: taller part to rear has rose window in gable to
front with quatrefoil mouchettes in tracery and hoodmould; ground-
floor windows in left-hand return front with paired trefoiled ogee-
headed lights; lower block to front: chamfered plinth, diagonal
buttress and gable to front; window with 2 trefoiled ogee-headed
lights, quatrefoils in tracery, and hollow-chamfered reveals; left-
hand return front with pairs of trefoiled ogee-headed lights and
reset C13 archway to right with half-round moulded jambs and C19
boarded door. Interior: 4-bay aisle arcades, C13 to south with
double chamfered arches and circular piers with moulded bases and
capitals; set-back tower arch with triple chamfer dying into
responds; 4-centred arched doorway to tower staircase; 2 steps
up to double-chamfered C13 chancel arch with outer arch springing
from imposts and inner arch springing from short half-round colonnettes
with moulded bases and capitals; chancel south doorway with chamfered
reveals, shallow trefoil-head arch with dogtooth ornament, and hood-
mould with C17-style carving; chamfered organ chamber arch in chancel
to north; north aisle has reused doorway to east with half-round
moulding and three C19 blind trefoil-headed chamfered arches to right;
3-bay chancel roof with moulded arch-bracing to collars springing from
short colonnettes resting on corbels, chamfered single purlins, ashlar
pieces, moulded windbraces, and cusping in apexes;C19 double-framed
nave and south aisle roofs with arch-braced collars; C19 north aisle
roof with cambered tie-beams, king posts, and moulded and carved corbels;
C14 piscina in south aisle with trefoiled nodding ogee, crockets and
pinnacle, and square aumbry to right; chamfered rear arches to chancel
windows. Fittings: C12 stone tub font with rosettes in beaded medallions
and a foliage frieze above; reused C14 floor tiles in front of the
communion rail; late C16 chancel screen moved to tower arch in 1843,
of 3 bays with moulded rail and surround to top panels, openwork cresting
and brattishing, central shaped-head doorway with moulded reveals and
boarded door, and evidence of painted inscription at top of side panels;
7-sided wooden pulpit of 1633, 2 panels high with lozenge and arabesque
decoration, carved frieze, and carved panelled back board; pews of
1891 incorporating some C17 fragments; C19 choir stalls and wrought
iron and wooden altar rails; choir panelling of 1912, possibly incor-
porating some C17 fragments. Stained glass: small C14 figure in east
window of south aisle; east window of 1891, an early work by Kempe.
Sculpture: carved head corbel in south wall, probably to carry an
image. Wall painting: faded remains of doom painting above chancel
arch. Monuments: good series of C18 tablets; in chancel, to Robert
Cressett, died 5 May 1728 with set-back flanking pilasters, broken
segmental pediemnt, urn and flaming lamps above and shield and skull
below; to Barbara Cressett, died 16 July 1736 with panelled pilasters
supporting Doric frieze and broken segmental pediment with shield in
tympanum, skulls supporting base; to Dr Edward Cressett, Bishop of
Llandaff, died 13 February 1755 with 3 putto heads below, cartouche
above, and bishop's crozier and mitre flanking urn at top; to Sir
William Fowler with standing putto in front of grey obelisk; in north
aisle, to Sir William Fowler, died 28 March 1717, with console brackets,
flanking set-back scrolls, and figure next to medallion of the deceased;
in south aisle to John Dod, died 28 November 1774 with cornice breaking
forward in centre with large urn and shield with swags above, and cherubs
and crossed palms beneath; other C18 tablets, three C18 brass plaques,
and C18 hatchment. V.C.H., Vol. VIII, Pp.69-72; D.H.S. Cranage, An
Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, Vol.6, Pp.482-6;
B.o.E., Pp.114-5; Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire and Shropshire,
1917.
Listing NGR: SJ5582204995
