St Peter's Church, Adderley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Peter's Church, Adderley
St Peter's Church, Adderley, from the south
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OS grid reference	SJ 661 395
Location	Adderley, Shropshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Churches Conservation Trust
History
Status	Parish church
Dedication	Saint Peter
Architecture
Functional status	Partly active, partly redundant
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	10 February 1959
Architect(s)	Richard Baker
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic, Gothic Revival
Completed	1801
Specifications
Materials	Sandstone, slate roofs
Administration
Parish	Adderley
Deanery	Hodnet
Archdeaconry	Salop
Diocese	Litchfield
Province	York

St Peter's Church is an Anglican church located in the village of Adderley, Shropshire, England. It is a very important building, listed as a Grade I historic site. This means it has special historical or architectural value. The church has two main uses. Its main part, called the nave, and its tower are still used as a local church for the community. The other parts, like the chancel and transepts, are looked after by The Churches Conservation Trust. This trust helps protect old churches that are no longer fully used.

History

The oldest part of St Peter's Church today is the north transept. It was built between 1635 and 1636. This section was made to be a special burial chapel for the Needham family. They were important people known as the Viscounts Kilmorey, from a place called Shavington.

The church tower is also quite old, built in 1712. The rest of the church was built later, in 1801, by an architect named Richard Baker. This is the only building we know of that he designed. The chancel, which is the area around the altar, was repaired in 1822.

Around 1970, the inside of the church was divided. This allowed the nave to continue as an active church for the local people. The other parts were then preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust.

Architecture

St Peter's Church is built from yellow-grey sandstone. Some parts of the tower also use red sandstone. The roofs are made of slate. The church has a cruciform shape, which means it looks like a cross from above. It has a main area called a three-bay nave. There is also a single-bay chancel and two transepts, which are the "arms" of the cross shape. The chancel and the south transept have a rounded end, called an apse.

Outside the Church

The tower has two main sections and sits on a strong base. At its corners, you can see Doric pilasters, which are like flat columns. The lower part of the tower has a round-headed doorway. The upper part has two-light openings with louvers, where the bells are. At the very top, there is a decorative moulding and a flat wall called a parapet.

The north transept, also known as the Kilmorey chapel, has a battlemented parapet. This means it has a wall with gaps, like a castle. It also has pointed decorations called crocketed pinnacles at the corners and on the top of the gable. This transept has a large three-light window facing north. It also has a two-light window facing east and a doorway on the west side with four steps.

The rest of the church has a plain parapet. Each end of the gables has a triangular shape called a pediment. On the north and south gables, there are small decorative pieces called finials. The windows have pointed arches and Gothic-style tracery, which are the stone patterns within the window. These windows have cast iron frames and tracery in a Perpendicular style. They were made in a nearby town called Coalbrookdale. On the south side of the nave, there is a pair of doors.

Inside the Church

The church is split into two main areas. At the entrance to the north transept, there is a beautifully carved wooden screen. It was made around 1637 and features Tuscan columns. The screen in the chancel was added in 1908. It has Corinthian columns and was likely made by C. Hodgson Fowler.

The baptismal font is large and square, designed in the Norman style. It has carvings of rosettes and spiral shapes. There is also a medieval inscription in Latin on it. It talks about the first man and woman. The wooden pulpit, where sermons are given, has six sides and dates from about 1801.

Next to the tower arch, there are boards with the Ten Commandments written on them. In the vestry, which is under the tower, there is a board listing people who have given money to the church. Above the south doorway, there are tablets with the Lord's Prayer and the Creed inscribed. The west wall of the north transept even has a fireplace!

The stained glass windows show twelve heraldic panels. These panels display the coat of arms of the Needham family. The oldest memorial is a brass from around 1390. Another brass remembers Sir Robert Needham, who died in 1556, and his wife Agnes, who died in 1560. This brass was found to be a 'palimpsest'. This means it was an older brass, probably from the 1300s, that was reused. The back of it was engraved with the new design. There are other memorials inside the church dedicated to members of the Needham family.

Outside the Church

There are two other interesting structures in the churchyard that are also listed as Grade II historic sites. One is a red sandstone sundial from the 1700s. It has a square base, a square pillar, and a block with a wrought iron pointer (called a gnomon) and a globe on top. Sadly, this sundial went missing some years ago and has not been found. The other structure is a mounting block from 1774. It has four sandstone steps and was used to help people get onto horses.

See also

• Grade I listed churches in Shropshire
• Listed buildings in Adderley
• List of churches preserved by The Churches Conservation Trust in the English Midlands
• The Churches Conservation Trust: St Peter's Church, Adderley