Church of St Peter

Details

DUNCHURCH THE SQUARE SP4871 (North side) 11/48 Church of St. Peter 06/10/60 GV II* Church. Late C12/early C13 origins; largely rebuilt C14; tower early C15. Mid C19 chancel north aisle; mid/late C19 vestry has some old work. Restored 1908. Sandstone ashlar. Chancel has C12/C13 south wall of limestone rubble with sandstone plinth and cornice. Tile roofs have coped gable parapets with kneelers, some with weatherings. Aisled nave, chancel and north aisle, west tower and south vestry. Decorated and Perpendicular styles. 2-bay chancel, 3-bay nave. Splayed plinths. Diagonal and other buttresses of 2 offsets throughout. Moulded cornices. Windows, mainly renewed, have hood moulds. Chancel has moulded plinth. Limestone 3-light east window with curvilinear tracery. South window has Y-tracery with inner trefoiled lancets. Small chamfered low-side window. Chancel aisle has 3-light east window with reticulated tracery. North side has large gabled buttress. Door in roll-moulded segmental pointed arch. Gothick wall monument above has inscriptions to William Smith, 1810, and Ann Smith 1827. Small chamfered straight-headed north-east light. 2 windows have Y-tracery similar to chancel. North aisle has 3 buttresses. North-west doorway, said to be early C14, of 3 moulded orders with hood mould continued across wall. Mid C19 ribbed door. Two 2-light windows have curvilinear tracery with central mullion. West window has cusped Y-tracery. South aisle has 2 south 2-light windows with curvilinear tracery. South-west buttress continued up into C19 octagonal stack with cornice. West end has small plank door in angle. Small quatrefoil window high up. Wall monument of 2 slate panels with sandstone cornice, urn, volutes etc. has inscriptions to Mary Johnson 1828 etc. Vestry has south gable with gablet kneelers. 2-light window with reticulated tracery. West door. Perpendicular tower of 3 stages has south-east stair turret and moulded string courses. Double-leaf west door in elaborate but eroded doorway of 3 orders with inner moulded order, multi-cusped arch and outer arch with alternating trefoil and trefoiled lancet panelling. Deep-set 3-light window above has splayed sill and remains of panelling to jambs. Hood mould continued as string course. Second stage has remains of small ogee canopy. 2 small ogee lancets under straight head with hood mould flank clock face. Third stage has remains of carvings to buttresses. Deep-set renewed paired 2-light bell openings have blind tracery below and continuous hood mould. One opening only to north. Frieze of quatrefoils. Moulded embattled parapet has octagonal south-east stair turret rising above. Interior: chancel east window has rere arch of 3 chamfered orders. Moulded trefoiled C12/C13 piscina. Cl9 panelled wagon roof has moulded ribs. Mid Cl9 two-bay Early English style north arcade has composite piers. C19 chancel arch of 2 chamfered orders, the inner with foliage corbels, the outer dying into the wall. Remains of old carved corbels. Nave has 3-bay arcades with C12/C13 square bases and angle spurs and octagonal shafts. C14 Decorated south arcade has moulded capitals with castellated abaci: eastern capital also has ballflower ornament. Impost to west only has remains of foliage corbel. C15 Perpendicular north arcade has moulded capitals. West impost, possibly C12/C13, has cowled woman's head. C19 queen post roof. High tower arch of 3 chamfered orders. Tower arch, window and door have jamb with trefoiled lancet panelling. Plaster quadripartite rib vault with decorated bosses. Mid C19 internal porch. Chancel aisle has crown post wagon roof Arch of moulded and chamfered orders. Aisles have C19 panelled ceilings with moulded ribs. South aisle has remains of ogee piscina. Fittings: elaborate mid C19 Gothic reredos and altar table. Reredos has triptych painting. Mid/late Cl? octagonal alabaster pulpit has blind tracery etc. Mid C19 stalls. Octagonal font of 1848 has blind tracery to bowl and stem. Monuments: tower south wall: Margarit Hixon 1632. Painted wood monument of triangular section with moulded frame. Above north aisle door: Thomas Newcomb 1681. Alabaster. Diptych form with open doors, moulded round arch, scroll pediment and cartouche crest, volutes, finials and drops and moulded shelf with winged head. Newcomb was printer to Charles II, James II and William III, and founder of the Almshouses (q.v.). Stained glass: chancel east 1908 by Charles Kempe; south east c.1895. South aisle c.1917 and 1919. (V.C.H.: Warwickshire, Vol. VI, pp.83-85; Buildings of England: Warwickshire, pp.286-287).

Listing NGR: SP4861771266

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

308690

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Doubleday, AH, Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Warwick, (1951), 83-85
Pevsner, N, Wedgwood, A, The Buildings of England: Warwickshire, (1966), 286-287

End of official list entry

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