St Peter's Church, Wintringham facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Peter's Church, Wintringham
St Peter's Church, Wintringham, from the south-east
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OS grid reference	SE 887 731
Location	Wintringham, North Yorkshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Churches Conservation Trust
History
Dedication	Saint Peter
Architecture
Functional status	Redundant
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	10 October 1966
Architectural type	Church
Style	Norman, Gothic
Groundbreaking	12th century
Specifications
Materials	Calcareous sandstone, Westmorland slate roofs

St Peter's Church is an old Anglican church in the village of Wintringham, North Yorkshire, England (grid reference SE 887 731). It's no longer used for regular church services. However, it is a very important historic building. It is listed as a Grade I building on the National Heritage List for England. This means it's considered a building of special interest. The church is now looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust. A famous expert on buildings, Nikolaus Pevsner, said it was "the most rewarding church" in the area. He loved its amazing collection of old furniture and decorations.

History of the Church

The church is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, which was a big survey of England in 1086. But parts of the church, like the chancel (the area around the altar), are built in the Norman style. This style was popular in the 12th century.

Building Over Time

The chancel was built in the 1100s. Most of the rest of the church was built later, in the 1300s. In the 1400s, the east end of the church was rebuilt. New windows were also added to the nave (the main part of the church where people sit).

The church's tower was first built in the late 1300s. It was repaired in 1818. In 1887, the roofs were fixed by an architect named Oldrid Scott. Then, from 1889 to 1891, Temple Moore added new oak fittings to the chancel.

Becoming a Protected Site

In April 2004, St Peter's Church was given to the Churches Conservation Trust. This trust looks after old churches that are no longer used for regular worship. The Trust started repairs on the church the next year. These repairs took two years to finish.

Church Architecture

The church is built from local calcareous sandstone. This is a type of stone that contains lime. The roofs are made of Westmorland slate, a strong roofing material.

Church Layout

The church has a main area called the nave. It has four sections, called bays. On either side of the nave are north and south aisles. These are like walkways. There is also a chancel, which has three bays. At the west end of the church is a tower with a tall, pointed roof called a spire. At the end of each aisle, there is a small chapel.

The Tower

The tower has four levels. It has strong supports called buttresses at its corners. There are stone bands, called string courses, between each level. The west window of the tower has three parts and a Perpendicular style pattern. The top level has two bell openings with wooden slats, called louvred openings. These have a Decorated style pattern.

The top edge of the tower is shaped like castle walls, which is called embattled. It is also decorated and has holes. At the corners are tall, pointed decorations called pinnacles. There are also water spouts to drain rain. Below the castle-like top is a decorated row of stone carvings called a corbel table. The spire is set back from the edge of the tower and has eight sides. You enter the church through a door on the south side.

Windows and Arches

At the east end of the church, there are two windows with two parts each, in the Perpendicular style. There are crosses on the pointed ends of the nave and chancel roofs, called gable ends. Inside the church, there are large arches. These include an arch leading to the tower, an arch leading to the chancel, and arches that separate the nave from the north and south arcades (rows of arches).

Fittings and Furniture

Inside the church, some walls have old paintings from the medieval period. Other paintings are from after the Reformation. Most of the walls are simply painted white.

Special Features

In the south wall of the chancel, there is a double aumbry. This is a small cupboard used to store sacred items. The chapels are separated from the aisles by carved screens from the 1400s. These screens also have a castle-like top. On the south wall of the south chapel, there is a piscina. This is a stone basin with a drain, used for washing sacred vessels. It has a three-lobed shape, called a trefoiled head. In the north wall, there is a small hollow space called a niche.

Inside the Tower

At the bottom of the tower, there is a screen with arches, built in 1723. Also in the tower is a hatchment from 1723. This is a painted board showing a family's coat of arms, often displayed after someone important died. There are also two other painted panels.

Old Furniture

The lectern (where readings are given) and the double-decker pulpit (where sermons are preached) are both from the 1600s. The carvings on the ends of the nave pews (church benches) are also from the 1600s. These carvings are called poppyhead carvings. Above the pulpit is an eight-sided sounding board. This is a canopy that helped project the speaker's voice. It has hanging decorations called pendant finials.

The font (a basin for baptisms) is shaped like a tub in the Norman style. It has an eight-sided painted cover from 1736. In the north aisle, there are boards painted with the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. Above the chancel arch, there is a painted text from the Bible's Book of Genesis. The colorful stained glass in the windows of the aisle and nave is from the 1400s. It shows pictures of saints.

See also

• Grade I listed buildings in North Yorkshire
• List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in Northern England