Church and Chapel
The earliest known record of the Church of England parish church of St. Peter ad Vincula dates from 1291. Early English style features that survive from this time include the tower arch, a doorway and several windows, including two in the nave. The bell tower was built after a gift of £10 for the purpose in 1412.
The earliest record of the church's dedication to St. Peter ad Vincula ("St Peter in Chains") dates from 1469. It is one of only 15 churches in England with this dedication, which is after the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.
Late in the 15th and early in the 16th centuries extensive Perpendicular Gothic alterations were made to the church. The tower was rebuilt and the south porch and three-bay north aisle were added and the nave was increased in height.
A west gallery was added in 1714 and later removed, probably during rebuilding work in the 1850s. The works included rebuilding the north aisle, removing the chancel arch and blocking up the east window.
In 1553 the church had three bells and a sanctus bell. One was recast by William Tosier of Salisbury in 1728 and another by Mears and Stainbank in 1882 but the third mediaeval bell still hung in the tower in 1927. Two more bells were cast by Mears and Stainbank and added to the tower in 1889. In 1999 the three Mears and Stainbank bells and the mediaeval bell were replaced with a ring of six bells cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The 1728 bell has not been recast but it is no longer rung. The sanctus bell has also been retained; it was cast in Salisbury in about 1400.
The parish had a Methodist congregation by 1773. For several decades the Methodists worshipped in private homes licenced for the purpose. In 1879 a Primitive Methodist chapel was built of brick. It was closed in 1957.
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Famous quotes containing the words church and/or chapel:
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—Samuel G. Engel (1904–1984)
“The religion of England is part of good-breeding. When you see on the continent the well-dressed Englishman come into his ambassador’s chapel and put his face for silent prayer into his smooth-brushed hat, you cannot help feeling how much national pride prays with him, and the religion of a gentleman.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)