Church of St Peter

Details

717/3/89 CHURCH LANE 24-MAR-50 NEVENDON CHURCH OF ST PETER

GV II* DATES/ARCHITECTS: C13-C15, restored 1858-9 by Joseph Peacock.

MATERIALS: Ragstone rubble, with some tile in the chancel, limestone dressings. Timber bell cot and porch. Tiled roofs.

PLAN: Nave with N porch, chancel with S vestry.

EXTERIOR Nave has simple C19 2-light windows with trefoiled lights in the N and S walls to the E of the doors, and lancets to the W of the doors. The 3-light W window is also C19. Late C14 N door with moulded jambs, pointed arch and hood mould with head stops. Timber N porch on dwarf walls. Probably C17 timber bell-cote over W end of nave. Nave S door is similar to that on the N but has no hood mould. Chancel E window of 3 lights, C19 reusing some earlier stone in the splays. Two heavily renewed C13 lancets in the chancel N and S walls. The former NW and SW quoins of the chancel are visible as straight joints slightly to the E of the junction with the nave. C19 S vestry has a 2-light plate tracery S window.

INTERIOR The C13 chancel windows have medieval stonework internally. Both nave and chancel have C15 king-post roofs with octagonal king-posts. Bell-cote is supported internally on tie beams.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES In chancel N wall, probable Easter Sepulchre, a long recess with segmental head and jambs to the floor. In nave S wall, a C15 cinquefoiled piscina. Also in nave S wall, a stoup. Royal Arms of George I. Floor slab in chancel to Rev. Thomas Hervey, d. 1712. Pulpit, reredos and chancel panelling designed by the rector, Alfred Hands and made by Cushman c.1915. Chancel E window 1950 by Rosemary Rutherford replacing a window destroyed in WWII.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES Table tomb in the churchyard to Thomas Blackmore, d. 1679 and his daughters Ann d.1677 and Elizabeth d. 1690. C20 lychgate. The church forms a group with Nevendon Hall, The Rectory and Barn.

HISTORY Nevendon as a place is in the Domesday book of 1086, but if there was a church there in the late C11, it was not mentioned, although it was not uncommon for churches to be omitted. It is likely that the earliest church was built of timber, and that it was only gradually rebuilt in stone. The earliest fabric is the C13 chancel, but this was probably added to an earlier timber nave. The chancel was extended slightly to the W, and the nave was rebuilt in the C14. The whole building was reroofed in the C15. The bell turret was added in the C17. The church was restored and S vestry added in 1858-9 to designs by Joseph Peacock. The N porch was added in 1928 to designs by Sir Charles Nicholson. The church has always been a rectory, but it was never a wealthy living, and the simplicity of the church reflects the relative poverty of the parish in the past. In the C20, Nevendon has largely been absorbed into the new town of Basildon, but being on the edge, still retains something of its individual identity.

SOURCES Buildings of England: Essex (2007), 121-22 RCHME: Essex IV (1923), 96, includes plan.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The church of St Peter, Wickford, Essex is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons: * Small parish church of the C13 and C14, restored in the C19 and C20. * Nave and chancel roofs C15. * Retains evidence for its having been extended in several phases from a timber church.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

112307

Legacy System:

LBS

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