Description

TL 97 SE HEPWORTH CHURCH LANE

3/4 Church of St. Peter
14.7.55

II*

Parish church. C13 and later: seriously damaged by fire in 1898, and
extensively rebuilt by J.S. Corder of Ipswich. Nave, chancel, south porch and
west tower, all in rubble flint, partly covered with old render. Plaintiled
roofs. 2-light windows in Perpendicular style to nave; C14 windows in
Decorated style to chancel; in the south wall, a traceried low-side window,
and a 3-light east window with reticulated tracery. South porch, largely
reconstructed, contains fragments of an earlier Norman church, and the open
roof has some reused C16 moulded timbers. An empty niche with trefoil head
above the south door. Plain tower with large diagonal buttresses, partly
faced with panels of large black knapped flints. Plain parapet, with conical
roof rising above it. Plain west doorway with hood mould over. A small
quatrefoil window to each face of the middle stage, and a window with semi-
circular arched head to each face of the top stage. Across the upper part of
the west face is the date 1677 in large cast iron figures: this may well be
the date of the top stage windows. The lower part of the tower and the
western buttresses have been extensively tied together with ironwork: an entry
in the Diary of Thomas King of Thelnetham records: 'Hepworth Steeple screwed
together with irons by Mr. Bloomfield of Thelnetham, November 1828'. The
interior fittings, including the double hammer-beam roof, date from the post-
fire restoration of 1899. Beside the pulpit is the blocked door to the former
rood stairs, and on the south wall of the nave the remains of a much-damaged
piscina with cusped head. 6 C15 poppy-head bench ends survive in the chancel.
The one outstanding feature of the church is the late C14 pinnacled font
cover, octagonal, and 12ft 6 inches high. The ornate carving is unusual, and
much-damaged, in 3 tiers, with a 3-tier pinnacle above; the lowest stage has a
miniature building on each face, with windows and doorways in which little
figures stand.

Listing NGR: TL9874874854

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17540451

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

• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)