Details
SJ 4623-4723 MYDDLE C.P. MYDDLE
15/92 Church of Saint Peter
27.5.53
GV II
Parish church. Tower of c.1634, by John Dod, possibly incorporating
earlier parts at base to south, church rebuilt in 1744 by William Cooper
(datestone and churchwarden's accounts), and chancel rebuilt in 1747;
whole restored in 1857-8 and chancel "beautified" and vestry/organ chamber
added in 1877 (brass plaque in chancel). Stands on an earlier site.
Dressed red sandstone with grey sandstone ashlar dressings; west tower
of dressed yellow/grey sandstone with ashlar dressings and C20 tile
patching; plain tile roofs. 4 bay nave and 2-bay chancel in one with
north porch, 4-bay south aisle, west tower, and south-east vestry/organ
chamber. C19 restoration and addition in an early C14 Gothic style.
Tower: 3 stages. Moulded plinth, chamfered offsets diagonal buttresses
with chamfered offsets, moulded parapet string with gargoyles at corners,
chamfered battlemented plinth, and pyramidal cap with weathervane.
Chamfered 2-light louvred belfry openings with Y-tracery and returned
hoodmoulds. Tall chamfered staircase windows to west. Inserted c.1858
west window of 3 trefoil-headed lights with cusped Geometrical tracery,
chamfered reveals and hoodmould with carved stops. C17 doorway
with chamfered reveals in second stage to south (possible former access
to aisle roof) and C19 door to north with strap hinges and chamfered
head. Clock on second stage to north. Nave and chancel: moulded plinth,
moulded cill string, coved C18 cornice to right and C19 cornice to left
with ballflower and other ornament, parapeted gable ends with chamfered
copings, gabled kneelers, cross on apex to east, and ridge cresting.
Angle buttresses to east. 1 + 3 windows; C19 windows of 2 trefoil- or
cinquefoil-headed lights with cusped Geometrical and flowing tracery,
chamfered reveals and hoodmoulds with carved stops. C19 moulded-arched
north doorway to right has pair of C19 boarded doors with strap hinges.
North porch with double-chamfered plinth, diagonal buttresses, moulded
cornice, parapeted gable with trefoil-gabled kneelers resting on carved
angels and cross at apex, and ridge cresting. Moulded arch with fillet
and one order of shafts with moulded bases and capitals, and pair of
boarded doors with strap hinges; 6-foiled side lights with stained glass.
Stone attached to north wall of nave inscribed: "THIS/CHURCH/was rebuilt/
A.D.1744/Edwd. Hanmer/John Bate/Thos. Shaw/Church Wardens". East end
of chancel: C19 window of 3 trefoil-headed lights with cusped Geometrical
tracery, chamfered reveals, and hoodmould with carved heads as stops;
trefoiled opening in apex of gable above consists of 3 trefoils and
has hoodmould with carved stops. South aisle: moulded plinth, moulded
cill string, coved cornice, parapeted gable ends with trefoil-gabled
kneelers and cross at apices, and ridge cresting. C19 windows of 2
trefoil-headed lights with cusped Geometrical and flowing tracery, chamfered
reveals, and hoodmoulds with carved stops. Large C19 west window of
3 trefoil-headed lights with cusped Geometrical tracery, chamfered reveals,
and hoodmould with carved heads as stops. East window of 2 trefoil-
headed lights with quatrefoil tracery and hoodmould with carved stops.
Vestry in south-east angle: chamfered plinth, moulded eaves cornice,
parapeted gable with trefoil-gabled kneelers, and integral red sandstone
end stack with octagonal shaft and moulded cornice. East front: segmental-
arched window to right with 2 trefoil-headed diamond-leaded lights,
wooden lintel over recess to right with cinquefoil-headed window and steps
down to boarded basement door. South front: double -chamfered cinquefoil-
headed window to right with hoodmould and carved stops; entrance set
back to left consisting of a pair of boarded doors with strap hinges,
moulded segmental arch, moulded cornice and blocking course, and dormer
set back above consisting of 3 cinquefoil-headed lights with panelled
tracery and ballflower-ornamented cornice. Interior: C19 four-bay
nave roof and C19 two-bay chancel roof with chamfered arch-braced trusses
springing from stone corbels, longitudinally braced central struts
above and pairs of chamfered purlins; chancel roof with cusped arch
bracing also and ballflower-ornamented frieze. C19 four-bay south aisle
roof as nave. C17 continuously double-chamfered tower arch with C19
chamfered lancet to second stage of tower in wall above. C19 four-bay
arcade consisting of circular piers with octagonal cushion-type capitals
(half pier to east and corbelled half pier to west), and chamfered round
arches. Tall C19 double-chamfered arch between chancel and organ chamber
and chamfered-arched vestry doorway to left with boarded door. Tall
C19 chamfered arch between south aisle and organ chamber and boarded
vestry door to right with moulded segmental head. Chamfered rear arches
throughout except for east window with moulded rear arch. Fittings:
C17 or early C17 iron-bound parish chest beneath tower; C17 probable
former communion table by north door with turned legs. Other fittings
C19: panelled sanctuary, brass altar rails, lectern, choir stalls with
poppyheads and traceried panels, low chancel screen, and pierced octagonal
wooden pulpit on stone base. C19 pews in nave and aisle and 2 former
free benches now beneath tower. Baptistery beneath tower including
C19 octagonal stone font with carved panels and inscription, tall wooden
font cover made from wood brought from the Holy Land and carved by the
Rev. G. H. Egerton in 1879 with inscription, and inscription in encaustic
tiles at base of font. Painted Royal Coat of Arms of 1775 above tower
arch, 2 hatchments on north wall of nave, and pair of C19 Gothic communion
boards under tower. Remains of ducking stool in vestry. Stained glass:
mid-and late C19. East window commemorating the Rev. Thomas Egerton
(d.1847) and that in north window of chancel commemorating Mary, Lady
Marjoribanks, wife of the Rev. George Henry Egerton (see plaque). Brasses:
Arthur Chambre of Petton (d.1564) and his wife and children; Rector
Ralph Kinaston (d.1629); other late C17 and C18 memorial brasses on
chancel floor and walls. Other monuments: marble tablet to Richard Atcherley
(d.1763), with flanking reeded strips, top with acroteria and palms
flanking shield, and urn above; tablet to Richard Atcherley (d.1755),
wood painted to represent stone with lugged architrave, swan-necked
pediment with central finial, flanking painted scrolls, and key-ornamented
base; tablet to Robert Atcherley of Marton (d.1755), wood painted to represent
stone with acanthus-decorated sides, broken moulded cornice, central
cartouche with shield, and swagged urn above. Richard Gough (1635-1723),
author of Antiquityes and Memoyres of the Parish of Myddle (1701) is
probably buried in the chancel. Gough describes how John Dod, the mason,
of the tower, was charged £5 for every yard high it was built. D.H.S.
Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, Part
9, pp.763-6 and appendix, p.1000; Richard Gough, Ed. David Hey, The
History of Myddle, Penguin (1981), pp. 33-4; David G. Hey, An English
Rural Community: Myddle Under the Tudors and Stuarts, Leicester University
Press (1974), pp.17-20; E.M.W. Rogers, A Short History of the Church
and Parish of St. Peter's, Myddle, Shropshire (1984); B.O.E., pp.214-5;
Colvin, p.233; Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire and Shropshire (1905),
p . 151.
Listing NGR: SJ4676023612
