Description

PETER TAVY PETER TAVY
SX 57 NW
9/84 Church of St Peter
21.3.67
GV I

Parish church. Probably C14 origin much rebuilt in C15, restored in the 1870's.
Granite rubble walls, tower and porch constructed of granite ashlar. Gable ended
slate roofs with coping stones.
Plan: nave, chancel, north aisle, south transept and porch, west tower. The Church
may originally have been cruciform but heavily remodelled in C15 when a north
transept would have been absorbed into the new aisle and the west tower and south
porch added.
3 stage crenellated tower with large polygonal pinnacles which are also crenellated
and crocketted. 2-light belfry openings with simple tracery. Moulded plinth.
Ornate west doorway of volcanic stone which is richly moulded with quatrefoils in
spandrels and square hoodmoud. 3-light west window has Perpendicualar tracery. The
north aisle has 5 windows, all 2-light with restored tracery except for the central
window which is circa late C15 and taller with cinquefoiled heads and square
hoodmould. East end of aisle has 3-light Perpendicular windows with renewed
mullions. Chancel East window is restored in Perpendicular style. The south wall
has a C15 2-light window with cinquefoiled heads to the right and a reconstructed
C15 window to its left. In between is a granite 4-centre arched priests doorway.
In the angle with the South Transept is rood stair turret with a granite slit. The
transept has set-back buttresses and a very large 4-light granite Perpendicular
tracery with crude possibly mutilated tracery. To its left the south wall of nave
has a similar 3-light window with cinquefoiled heads as on the north aisle but its
mullions have been renewed. Gabled single storey south porch has 4-centre arched
moulded granite doorway with arched hoodmould above. The porch has a moulded
stringcourse.
Interior: 4 bay granite arcade to north aisle of Pevsner A-type piers with moulded
capitals, double chamfered depressed 4-centred arches. Similar arch to transept
corbelled out from wall. Tall 4 centred tower arch with columns. Restored plaster
chancel arch. Roofs are all circa early C20, wagon roof over chancel.
The plain pews are late C19 and the other fittings are generally C20.
The font is C15 or C16, octagonal with carved panels.
On the north wall of the chancel is a good wall memorial of 1722 to Revd. Thomas
Pocock, rector of the parish.
2 sections of panelling from the rood screens are preserved and hung on the west
wall of the nave. 2 sections of a carved pew-front are preserved in the transept
dating from the early-mid C16 judging from the Renaissance motifs used in the
carving.
Despite alterations to its interior this church preserves a number of early windows
with a particularly good tower.

Listing NGR: SX5131177772

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17527579

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

• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)