Diameter: 26.88" Bell 1 of 1
Founded by Antony Bartlet 1662
Dove Bell ID: 61847 Tower ID: 24533 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Wennington: St Mary & St Peter
Overview
Grid reference: TQ 539 809
Although a Norman doorway survives it is not in its original position, and the earliest period of which details survive in situ is the early thirteenth century, when the chancel, nave and a south aisle were built. The north aisle was added in the early fourteenth century and the west tower later in the same century. The south aisle was later destroyed and the arcade walled up, but a new south aisle was built on the old foundations, and the arcade re-opened, in 1886 by the Revd. Ernest Geldart.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West tower, nave with north and south aisles but no clerestory, and north porch; chancel with south organ chamber.
Footprint of Church buildings: 258 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
Although a Norman doorway survives it is not in its original position, and the earliest period of which details survive in situ is the early thirteenth century, when the chancel, nave and a south aisle were built. The north aisle was added in the early fourteenth century and the west tower later in the same century. The south aisle was later destroyed and the arcade walled up, but a new south aisle was built on the old foundations, and the arcade re-opened, in 1886 by the Revd. Ernest Geldart. The organ chamber is also of this date, and the church was restored then. The north porch dates from 1900, and was also designed by Geldart. In 1917 the roofs were restored by Sir Charles Nicholson and in 1927 he restored the tower. The chancel was re-arranged in 1964.
Exterior Description
The west tower is of three stages, with a gaunt unbuttressed outline which is quite impressive from a distance. The lowest stage is battered and has a doorway in the south wall with a hollow moulded surround. The small west window is of one trefoil-headed light. The middle stage, which is slightly set back above a weathering, has a small rectangular louvred opening in each of the three exposed walls, and the third stage, again slightly set back, has a trefoil-headed light in each face similar to that in the lowest stage. The plain parapet has three merlons on each side. The tower has no buttresses, and is severely undecorated.
The nave has differing aisles, of which the north is substantially mediaeval, of two bays with a three-light window in the west wall, a similar window in the north wall and a two-light window in the east wall, all rebuilt in the nineteenth century. The walls have some septaria mixed with the rubble, and the straight parapet and two buttresses are decorated with panels of flint chequerwork. The porch, which also has small buttresses enriched with flushwork is all of 1900 with an outer two-centred arch with two hollow mouldings and a moulded hood. It has two lights in each side wall. The gablet which interrupts the parapet of the aisle above the porch is an odd feature.
The south aisle is all of 1886 on the old foundations. It has a three-light window in the west wall and two two-light windows in the low south wall with cinquefoiled heads under square surrounds. The south wall is divided into two bays by buttresses, and the slope of the roof is nearly continuous with that of the nave.
The chancel is lower than the nave, and was much rebuilt in 1886 (including, for example, the diagonal buttresses decorated with flint flushwork and much of the east wall, which also has a band of flushwork decoration below the window sill). The east window itself has three main lights with spiky cusped tracery and there is a small lancet in the north wall, entirely renewed externally. In the south wall there is a larger lancet light, and beside it the organ chamber has a Norman doorway reset in the east gable, of which only the imposts and the voussoirs of the arch (decorated with three orders of saltire crosses) are ancient. Above it a stone carved with the crossed keys of St. Peter (to whom the church is partly dedicated) is set in the wall, together with a lintel.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
1886
The east window of three lights depicts The Crucifixion flanked by The Resurrection and The Ascension, by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.
Stained Glass
c.1913
Chancel north I : single light depicting St. Peter
Stained Glass
c.1950
Chancel south I : single light depicting St. John the Evangelist
Interior
Interior Description
The walls inside the church are plastered and white washed. The north and south arcades are of different dates, that on the south being earlier, with two broad two-centred arches of two chamfered orders carried on a cylindrical middle column and semi-octagonal responds, all with moulded bases and capitals. The north arcade, also of two broad arches with two chamfers, has an octagonal centre column and semi-octagonal responds with moulded bases and capitals. The floor is laid with tiles, probably of 1886. The nave roof is mediaeval, of three bays with chamfered wall-plates and king-post trusses with cambered tie-beams, two-way struts to the king-posts and a central purlin. The ceiling is plastered. The north aisle also has a plaster ceiling with no timbers visible and the south aisle has a thin timber roof of 1886. In the south wall of the sanctuary of the north aisle is a small ogee-headed piscina with a broken drain. A lancet in the middle of the west wall, rebated for a shutter, shows that the tower is a later addition. The doorway below it has moulded jambs and a four-centred head. Within the tower the most interesting architectural feature is the pair of ladders in the upper two stages, with steps of triangular section split from square logs and nailed onto the sloping uprights; these are probably fifteenth century.
The chancel is paved with tiles of 1886 which are evidence of Geldart's antiquarian interests. They are brown with buff motifs including the crowned monogram IHS, knots and fleurs-de-lys. The chancel arch is quite late, with a four-centred arch of two moulded orders carried on attached shafts with moulded capitals and bulbous bases; the outer order continues to the floor. The broad east window and the two single lights in the north and south walls are filled with stained glass, the remainder of the windows in the church being glazed with pink and purple opaque glass. The sill of the south chancel window comes down low as a sedile, and the organ chamber arch opens beside it. This also communicates by an arch with the south aisle. A piscina in the south wall of the chancel has a chamfered two-centred arch and circular drain.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
Early 17th Century
The altar in the chancel is a communion table of early seventeenth-century date with turned legs and stretchers on all four sides, of oak.
Altar
c.1840
The altar in the north aisle is a communion table in an adventurous gothic style with five cusped pendant arches along the front and recessed arched panels on the legs.
Altar
c.1886
The altar beside the north door, used as a book table, is probably the altar placed in the chancel in 1886, probably designed by Geldart.
Pulpit
Early 17th Century
The pulpit is early seventeenth-century, five sides of a hexagon with pilasters and arcading ornamented with strapwork, characteristic of the period. The stone base is of 1886.
Lectern
1914
The lectern is a brass eagle, given in 1914.
Font (object)
The font is octagonal, of Purbeck marble and painted white. It is octagonal, simply with a hollow moulding round the top edge of the base. The cover is of oak, octagonal in seventeenth-century style; the moulded edge has strapwork cresting and the middle post with curved supports rises to an urn which appears to be eighteenth-century.
Rail
c.1886
The communion rail has a shaped pine toprail supported on two cusped iron uprights
Bells
Churchyard
Grid reference: TQ 539 809
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Sources
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