This was the last of the churches I visited in the Ewelme Benefice and quite a remote church for the area at that. To be honest I did not know of it's existence till I saw it in the Benefice website then looked at the map to check where it was and like many other it was not far from a previously visited church. First look at the church shows it is old and reading Wickipedia shows it is which you can read in the history I took from it.
"The Church of England parish church of Saint Peter was built in the 14th century. It consists of a continuous nave and chancel with no chancel arch between them. The chancel masonry is ashlar, noticeably better-dressed and more evenly coursed than that of the nave.
The church building includes a 12th-century Norman doorway re-used from an earlier church on the same site. The font is tub-shaped, suggesting that it too is Norman.
The chancel windows are Perpendicular Gothic. The east window has ogee tracery and includes 14th century stained glass.The piscina also is ogeed. Beside the east window on the east wall are the remains of a mediaeval wall painting.
The woodwork of the pulpit and reading desk are Jacobean items carved in the 17th century. The pulpit bears the date 1633 but Sherwood and Pevsner suggest that it was assembled in the 19th century from Jacobean materials.
St. Peter's is a Grade II* listed building"
Visiting the church seems a little strange as you seem to be driving into a farmyard and the entrance is beside a house.
Above the church as you come through the gate. Right the west end with a bellcote
View of the South side giving a better view of the small bellcote
The East end
Another shot of the East end and the tracery
Above a view along the South side and right the open porch to the church
The reused Norman doorway and decorated stonework beside it
This side looked a little incomplete
Above the single cell nave and chancel with left the altar
Above the altar & chancel window with Ogee Tracery. Right the simple wooden cross & candle holders
View back through the church while on the right the Jacobean reading desk
Left another view of the reading desk and left the Jacobean Pulpit
View from the pulpit of the nave
turning around to see the altar
Some of the decoration of the pulpit
Above the sounding board to the pulpit while right the candle with candles
At first I thought this a mistake but if you look the date is 1916
Right the decorated panels
below which the date of 1633 can be seen
Above a view of the Ogee tracery and windows. Right a memorial to Anne Susanna Greenwood
Memorial to Charles Greenwood
There are a a few family vaults in the nave floor
Above the Tub Font which is thought to be Norman. Right view along the aisle
Couple of the pews
part of the medieval wall painting on the East wall
memorial to Thomas Brown who was chaplain at Magdalene collage and rector at the church
Another carved section which looks like its from the original church here
Above more sections of medieval painting
Right little pieces of exposed plaster that was found and left the West end of the church with bell rope
Left a shot of the ceiling and roof joists
Back outside you find the churchyard on the north side
There are some quite recent burials in the churchyard
along with olser wones
If you remember the two memorials in the church to the Greenwood family, they are buried here in this family plot
the inscriptions are still visible though moss is now growing on the headstones
over on the far west side of the churchyard under a yew are more graves
upturned earthenware pots by the West wall
Family plots by the West end, the entrance you see in the distance leads to the farmyard while the one on the right to the house
A headstone which had most likely fallen over lays on the ground while right a sapling grows in between a head & footstone on a grave
I will leave you this week with a view of the church taken from the gate
Take Care and have a Wonderful Weekend
5 comments:
St. Peter's is a gem Bill, you know I think these small churches are more beautiful in their simplicity than the bigger churches in their ostentatiousness. Sooo much older than my see church 😀
I like the simplicity but at the same time it doesn't look very "inviting"...
Thanks for including so much detail of the interior. Very interesting.
Like that Jacobean Pulpit.
Great design with minimum wood work.
...Bill, what a find, 14th century, it's amazing. The simple interior details are a delight. Thanks again for the tour!
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