Church Heritage Record 612338

St Peter's is a thirteenth century church with fifteenth century tower. The church was mostly rebuilt in 1877 by Arthur Blomfield, and there is an early twentieth century north vestry. 

Tooled ashlar with moulded stone plinth and plain tile roofs with crested ridge tiles and stone coped gables, topped by ridge cross to nave. Three stage western tower, nave with north aisle, north vestry and south porch, and lower chancel. Tower has full height stepped angle buttresses to all corners and a chamfered band between second and third stage. West elevation has pointed 3-light window with nineteenth century Dec style tracery and hoodmould and clockface over to second stage. South elevation has small single light window to second stage and north elevation is blank. Above, the bell stage has narrow two-light louvred panel traceried pointed bell openings in cavetto moulded surrounds with returned hoodmoulds to all sides, plus a clock face below eastern opening. Above again there is a coved stringcourse and embattled parapets, plus a metal weathervane.

North aisle has a Y-tracery pointed nineteenth century west window with carved head stops to the hoodmould, and a stepped angle buttress to west corner. North elevation of aisle has double gabled vestry to west end with pointed western door, pairs of adjoining lancets to each northern gable and a two-light flat headed east window with cusped lights, also clasping buttresses to all corners.

To the east the aisle has three pointed nineteenth century windows, each with stepped triple lancets plus quatrefoils in the spandrels, and stepped gableted buttresses between and to either end. East wall of aisle has pointed two-light nineteenth century geometric tracery window. Chancel has a continuous moulded sill band and deep buttresses between each window and to the corners. North elevation has two nineteenth century pointed Y-tracery windows, east elevation has larger version of three-light north aisle windows and south elevation has three more Y-tracery windows plus moulded pointed doorcase between western windows. South nave elevation has three-light pointed nineteenth century window with stepped lancets below pierced quatrefoils to east and Y-tracery window to west with gabled south porch beyond. This has a moulded pointed door with oval niche above carved with the Lamb of God. To either side the porch has trefoil headed lancets and inside there is a plain pointed door with a continuous outer moulding, and carved keys in trefoil niche above.

Most of the fittings in the church are simple, the chancel has a stone reredos with mosaicked wall behind and an ogee headed piscina to south, plus late nineteenth century metal and wooden altar rails and late nineteenth century timber choir stalls and organ. Across the chancel arch is a plain low stone screen and to south in the nave is a late nineteenth century octagonal wooden pulpit with painted saints in trefoil headed panels, on a stone base.

The north aisle has early twentieth century war memorial screen across eastern arch and late nineteenth century bench pews. Similar pews in nave and similar date octagonal stone font to west end of nave with diaper panels to each side of the bowl. Across the tower arch is a mid twentieth century wooden screen.

The most interesting monument is the early sixteenth century moulded four-centred arched tomb niche to north side of the chancel with re-set alabaster slab incised with illegible inscription and a figure, to Roger Doulton who died in 1500. In the organ bay there are several early nineteenth century slate and white marble wall memorials to members of the Gresley family and a classical aediculed white marble memorial of c1792 to Thomas and Elizabeth Gresley. Below this there are two re-set white marble slabs, one to Hannah Vincent c1772 and the other to Elizabeth Gresley c1759.

A litany desk in the chancel was made by Sir H. Nigel Gresley, the railway engineer who designed the Flying Scotsman and Mallard. 

The north aisle has one ceramic and one enamelled brass wall plaque, the former c1872 to Mary Birch and the latter c1912 to Ruth Jeanette. It also has two painted charity boards of c1678 and 1669. The nave has a brass plaque of c1912 and the tower has several painted and embossed glass plaques recording the peals rung between 1909 and the present day. Much of the stained glass is commemorative. The east window and reredos commemorate John Woodhouse who died in 1878, the south-east chancel window commemorates Isabella Robertson who died in 1899 and central and western windows to south side of chancel are placed there in memory of Rev. Gresley who died in 1897. The north east chancel window of c1914 is in memory of Constance Twiss and the central south nave window has c1922 stained glass with inscription 'Virtus sola nobilitat'. The north aisle has east window of 1899 commemorating Thomas Carter and west window with re-set medieval glass to the top including a small heraldic device.