Church of St Peter

Details

RENDCOMB RENDCOMB SP 00 NW 6/249 Church of St. Peter 26.11.58

GV I

Anglican parish church. Early English; entirely rebuilt early C16 by Sir Edmund Tame of Fairford; restored 1895 by F.R. Kempson. Nave north wall: rubble. Church otherwise ashlar; stone slate with leaded roof. Nave with south aisle and south porch; chancel with south chapel (parallel to and the same length as the chancel); vestry linked to the north side of the chancel via a short passage; west tower. South wall of south aisle and chapel with diagonal and side buttresses with offsets: 5 three-light 4-centred arched windows with hollow-moulded chamfers and stopped hoods; similar windows at the east and west ends; battlemented parapet; two late C17-early C18 headstones with oval inscription panels and rich decoration in almost 3-dimensional relief. Gabled porch with diagonal buttresses and 4-centred arched entrance with engaged jamb shafts; carved spandrels, one with a Tudor rose, one with a vine motif; stopped hood; battlemented parapet with cube sundial at the apex. Flagged floor within porch; stone side benches; C15 studded plank door with fillets within a moulded 4-centred arched surround with carved and painted spandrels with naturalistic oak leaf and ivy leaf decoration. Nave north wall: evidence of column bases and springing of the Early English north arcade now incorporated; blocked rectangular north doorway with flat- chamfered and quirked moulding; three 3-light windows similar to windows lighting the south aisle; stairs projection to the former rood loft far left; battlemented parapet. Chancel: 5-light Tudor-arched east window; two similar 3-light windows to the north wall. C19 vestry with diagonal buttresses. Three-stage tower with moulded plinth; pointed 3-light west window with a casement- moulded surround and a hood with diamond stops; 2-light belfry windows with stone louvres and hoods with carved head stops; strings between storeys; battlemented parapet with crocketed pinnacles. Interior: 3-bay south aisle continuous with 2-bay south chapel; 5-bay nave arcade with octagonal piers with concave mouldings and capitals in the form of elongated lozenges with moulded margins supporting 4-centred arches with ogee mouldings; pointed tower arch. C16 roof to the nave with braced ramped tie-beams and moulded intersecting beams with carved wooden bosses; similar C16 roofs to the south-aisle and south chapel; fine angel corbels carrying musical instruments to the south aisle. C19 roof to chancel similar to that in the nave. Stone flag floor; coloured and encaustic tiling to the chancel and sanctuary. Traces of three circular Early English piers formerly forming the arcade to a north aisle (now demolished) visible in the north wall of the nave. Round-headed doorway high up in the north wall of the nave where it joins the chancel, formerly giving access to a rood screen. Finely carved C16 wooden screens with blind tracery and vine scroll frieze divides the nave and south aisle from the chancel and south chapel; similar C16 screen divides the chancel from the south chapel. C11 tub-shaped stone font inside the south door (reputed to have been brought from Elmore by the Guise family) decorated with an arcade containing the eleven figures representing the apostles. C18 chalice-shaped stone font at the west end of the nave. Early C20 pews with blind tracery at the pew ends. C19 pulpit possibly incorporating carved panels possibly from the former rood loft. Finely carved panel decorated with Katherine of Aragon's pomegranate reused as a cupboard door on the vestry. Fine C17 communion rails with turned balusters and acorn finials; C20 altar table. C18 wrought iron communion rails to the south chapel, incorporating a swan motif. Monuments: two ledgers in the nave aisle one to Robert Berkeley, died 1690 one to Rebekah, wife of Robert Berkeley, died 1707. Two ledgers one to William Bradley, died 1728 and one to Hannah Bradley died 1733 in the south aisle. North wall of chancel: large ornate Baroque monument formerly highlighted in gold to Jane, daughter of Robert and Rebekah Berkeley, died 1672 with an oval inscription panel with foliate surround with large palm leaves either side; putti and painted heraldic shield at the apex, drapery flows down and around the inscription panel (by Reeve of Gloucester). White marble monument over the door to the vestry to a member of the Berkeley family, with almost illegible inscription possibly dated 1727, cartouche- like surround to the inscription panel with palm fronds either side; cherub's head and heraldic shield at the top; two down- turned flaming torches and a skull with bat-like wings at the bottom. South chapel: 2 chest tombs one to Eleanor Iermye, died 1629, wife of Sir R.Y. Berkeley, with black marble top and two polished limestone heraldic plaques on the side. Similar monument opposite to members of the Guise family. Both monuments appear to be either C18 or earlier C19 in date. Stained glass: fragmentary C16 Renaissance style stained glass; middle north nave window with the initials 'E.T.' (Edmund Tame cf) tied with a lover's knot; small figures of winged sibyls, survive within the tracery at the top of windows in the south chapel and south aisle; medallions of C17 Flemish glass set in the windows of the north aisle; west window of the south aisle by Wailes 1858. There is a close relationship between this church and Fairford church which was built by John Tame, father of Edmund Tame donor of Rendcomb church. (David Verey: The Buildings of England: The Cotswolds, 1979; and V.C.H. Glos. Vol VII, p226) -

Listing NGR: SP0185509789

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

131273

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Verey, D, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire 1 The Cotswolds, (1970)
Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Gloucester, (1981), 226

End of official list entry

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