Description

SE31SW WOOLLEY CHURCH STREET
(east side)

4/112 Church of St. Peter

22.11.66
GV I

Church. Mainly C15 with south-aisle added C16, restored c1870. Large well-
coursed dressed stone, C20 Bradstone roof. Perpendicular. West tower, nave,
north and south aisles, south porch, chancel, north and south chancel chapels.
2-stage embattled tower has diagonal buttresses with offsets. Chamfered plinth,
moulded band. West doorway with double-channelled surround has hoodmould.
3-light west window above with cusped lights and panel tracery; on south face
4 arrow-slits one above the other to light stair. 2-light belfry openings have
cusped lights with quatrefoil over to each face; clock face set under to north.
Projecting rainwater spouts at base of parapet with corner and central crocketted
pinnacles. 4-bay nave and aisles has diagonal buttresses. North aisle has each
bay articulated by offset buttresses, 2nd bay blind other bays have 3-light windows
with double-chamfered surrounds, square heads and cusped lights; sides (west end)
have same windows and coped lean-to roofs. South aisle, largely rebuilt c1870, has
2-light window to left of C15 porch in 2nd bay: segmental-pointed doorway of 2 orders
with small niche over; diagonal buttresses and coped gable restored c1870. Interior
of porch has fine oak king-post roof with boarded ceiling and moulded rafters and
ridge, bratished wall plate. Inner doorway recut. Windows have round-headed lights
with sunken spandrels. Coped division between nave and chancel continues to form
offset buttress to chancel chapels which break forward: 2 bays to south, 3 bays to
north, both with 3-light windows. Priest's door with round head to south and pointed
arch to north. Lean-to roofs. East end has shallow-arched 3-light windows to
chapels either side of taller 5-light window with reticulated tracery, possibly
entirely c1870. Offset buttresses with pinnacles. Coped gable with cross finial.

Interior: aisle arcades have pointed arches of 2 orders with octagonal columns with
moulded capitals, that to north lower under shallower roof pitch. Rood loft
doorway has re-used C12 tympanum carved with Lamb and Cross and foliated border,
spiral stair has Romanesque spiral-twist column. 3-bay arcades to chancel chapels.
South chapel: C16 carved screen; partly occupied by organ; cusped piscina and original
coved ceiling with heraldic painted bosses; wall monument c1682 to the Beaumont
family; funeral hatchment. North chapel: C19 screen, a copy of that in south chapel;
tomb niche; East window has fine C15 stained glass; wall monument to George
Wentworth of Wooley, c1660. The south aisle west window has stained glass c1871
possibly by Morris and Co.

Furnishings: some original pews with carved bench ends with panel tracery to rear
of church; C19 pews copy the design, front pews re-use C15 carved Gothic bench ends.
C19 waggon roof to nave and chancel.

Listing NGR: SE3193613016

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17528177

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas