Parish Church of St Peter and St Thomas

Details

TL 73 NW STAMBOURNE CHURCH ROAD 5/14 Parish Church 21/6/62 of St. Peter and St. Thomas(formerly listed as Church of GV St Peter) I Parish church, late Cll and later. Walls of flint and pebble rubble, with dressings of limestone, clunch and Roman brick, roofed with handmade red clay tiles and lead. W tower late Cll, nave C14, N arcade early C15, chancel, N aisle and N chapel late C15, S porch C16, restoration C19. The Chancel has an E window of 5 cinquefoiled lights with tracery in a 4-centred head, with moulded external reveals and label. In the N wall _is a 4-centred arch of 2 hollow- chamfered orders, the responds moulded, with semi-circular shafts and moulded capitals. The E capital is carved with a helm, mantling and shield of arms for MacWilliam. Further E is a square-headed squint. In the S wall are 2 windows each of 3 cinquefoiled lights with tracery in a 4-centred head, the sill of the more easterly carried down to form a seat. Between them is a doorway with chamfered jambs, 4-centred arch, moulded label and chamfered 2-centred rear- arch. There is a piscina to the E of the more easterly window with 4-centred head, drain missing, and another in the W splay of the same window, with trefoiled head and remains of drain. The chancel arch is 2-centred, of 2 moulded orders on the W side, 2 chamfered orders on the E side; the chamfered responds have each a semi-octagonal shaft with moulded capital and base. The roof of the chancel, early C16, is in 3 bays with moulded purlins and principals, arch-braced to the collars, plastered above. The spandrels are carved with the legend 'Espoir me confort' and the Macwilliam insignia. The Nave has an early C15 N arcade of 3 bays; the 2-centred arches are of 2 orders, the outer moulded and the inner chamfered; the columns are octagonal, with moulded capitals and bases; the responds have attached half-columns. In the S wall is a late C15 window of 4 cinquefoiled lights with tracery in a 4-centred head; the external reveals and label are moulded. Further W is the C14 S doorway with moulded jambs, 2-centred arch and label. The roof of the nave is Plastered in 7 cants, with 3 roll-moulded tiebeams set on wall-pieces with arch braces, the spandrels carved with foliage. One tiebeam is severed for the chancel arch. The N chapel has in the N wall a window and doorway uniform with tile windows and doorway of the chancel. The door is original, of 2 vertical planks with moulded fillet covering the join, planked horizontally inside, with stock lock, pistol bolt and Suffolk latch. In the W wall is a 4-centred arch of 2 continuously moulded orders; the responds have moulded bases rebated for a former screen and the inner order has filled mortices for its horizontal members. S of the arch is a round-headed squint. The chapel is ceiled with roll-moulded beams and wallplates, and joists of horizontal section originally plastered to the soffits, now exposed, early C16. The N aisle has in the N wall 2 windows each of 3 cinquefoiled lights with tracery under a 4-centred arch; the external reveals and label are moulded. There are original wrought iron grills on the outside. Further W is the N doorway, with jambs and 4-centred arch of 2 moulded orders. In the W wall is a window similar to those in the N wall. The roof is of shallow double pitch, the principals and wallplates roll-moulded with spiral-leaf carving, the joists roll-moulded, with wooden panels. The spandrels are carved with foliage and shields, 2 with the, MacWilliam motto 'Espoir me confort'. The W tower is square and unusually massive, in 3 stages, undivided externally. The quoins are partly of Roman bricks, partly of limestone. The parapet is crenellated and has 2 grotesque gargoyles on the S side and one on the N side. It is of the late Cll, but the upper part of the NW angle has been reconstructed with ashlar, and vertical cracks in the N and S walls have been stitched with limestone blocks. The stilted semi-circular tower-arch is plain; the responds have enriched imposts, dogtooth and billet on the N and simple reeding on the S. In the lower stage the N and S walls have blocked loops composed of Roman bricks and opus signum. The late C14 W window is of 2 trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a segmental-pointed head. The second stage has in both the S and W walls 2 Cll windows with jambs and semi-circular heads of 2 orders of Roman brick;with C19 stone lights. In the N wall, E of the centre line, is a similar window but of one order. The bell-chamber has in each wall one C15 window of 2 cinquefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a 2- centred head. The S porch is mid-C16, mainly of brick, cement-rendered externally and plastered internally. The 4-centred outer archway is of 2 orders, the outer arch hollow-chamfered externally and the inner arch moulded, resting on semi-octagonal attached shafts with moulded capitals. This stonework is early C15, reset, the responds partly of brick. The E and W walls have each a C16 window of 2 pointed lights in a 4-centred head with moulded label, all of brick. There are 5 elaborately carved niches: (1) in the E respond of the N arch of the chancel, with cinquefoiled head and flanking buttresses, (2) in nave, in E splay of window in S wall, a pair, one above the other, with vaulted canopies of tabernacle work, the lower niche with foliated pedestal, the upper with shield of arms for MacWilliam (3) in the N aisle, in the E splay of the easternmost window, a similar pair but plainer, all early C16. There is a stoup in the nave, E of the S doorway, with rough ogee head, bowl cut away, C16. There is a substantial area of early C16 glass in the E window of the chancel, kneeling figure of woman at prayer desk, with heraldic mantle charged with the coat of MacWilliam, and tunic with the arms of Hartishorn, kneeling figure of man in armour with tabard charged with the arms of MacWilliam and Englowes, and other shields of arms hung on trees or held by figures; and fragments in the SW window of the chancel - thumbscrew badge, white rose, etc. In the chancel there is a floor-slab to Colonel John Farewell, deputy-governor of the Tower, 1710, and one to M.H., 1816. There are 5 bells, the first by Thomas Draper of Thetford, 1583, the second, fourth and fifth by Henry Pleasant, 1705. The font has a stem with traceried and cinquefoiled panels, late C15/early C16, and C19 bowl. The pulpit is semi-hexagonal with plain panels, early C18, the stem made up from early C17 panelling. RCHM 1.

Listing NGR: TL7210538858

Legacy

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