The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Blockley Blockley is a village, civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, about northwest of Moreton-in-Marsh. Until 1931 Blockley was an exclave of Worcestershire. The civil and ecclesiastical parish ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. The church is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of St. Peter and St. Paul is late

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

,Verey, 1970, page 121 built in about 1180.''

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

'', 1913, pages 265-276 The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

is of three bays but only one of the six Norman

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...

s, that at the east end of the north wall, survives unaltered. At the end of the 13th century a two-storey extension was added on the north side of the chancel.Verey, 1970, page 122 The upper floor is a chantry chapel and the lower is a vestry. In about 1310 the east window of the

was inserted and at least two of the windows in the south wall of the chancel were enlarged in the

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

style. At the end of the 14th century the north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

was added, linked with the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

by an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

of four bays. The large

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...

window in the middle of the south wall of the chancel was inserted in the 15th century, replacing the Norman original. The south porch was added in 1630, the

clerestorey In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

was added to the nave in 1636 and the north arcade was probably rebuilt in the same century. The

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

was built in 1725, probably replacing an earlier one. The west gallery was inserted in 1735. The church was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

and the north porch added in 1871. By 1854 the tower had a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of six bells, of which the two oldest were cast in 1638 and the remainder in 1679, 1683, 1729 and 1854. The bells were increased to a ring of eight, and in 2016 an appeal was launched to replace the bell frame and to increase the number of bells to ten.

Present day

The ecclesiastical parish now forms part of the Vale and Cotswold Edge team of Church of England churches, with the Team Vicar remaining responsible for Blockley and its outlying villages of Paxford, Draycott and Aston Magna, as well as the parish of

Bourton-on-the-Hill Bourton-on-the-Hill is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, and about west of Moreton-in-Marsh. In 2010 it had an estimated population of 288.Dalziel and Pascoe Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill. Characterisation and style Dalziel is ...

'' episode ''Sins of the Fathers'' was filmed in the church. The church is used as St Mary's Roman Catholic church in the ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...

'' television series and the vicarage transformed into presbytery for Father Brown's residence. In 2017 the bell frame was replaced by John Taylor of Loughborough. At the same time all the bells were removed and cleaned. The tenor bell was recast, two new trebles added, and all the headstocks and other equipment replaced.

Notable people

* Erasmus Saunders, (1670–1724) a Welsh priest and writer, curate and then vicar at the beginning of the 18th century * Thomas Wilson, vicar, later Dean of Worcester (1571–1586) * Thomas Henry Morgan (1898-1957) buried in churchyard,A Welsh Uncle -Memories of Tom Morgan 1898–1957, John Dann, FastPrint Publishing, 2018 ISBN alleged original Welsh composer of Welsh standard " We'll Keep a Welcome"

Gallery

Blockley - geograph.org.uk - 47112.jpg, The church within the village Blockley church tower - geograph.org.uk - 889246.jpg, Church tower South porch, Blockley Church - geograph.org.uk - 889236.jpg, South porch St Peter and St Paul, Blockley.jpg, South-west view Blockley Church.jpg

References

External links

Church website

A Church Near You profile
{{Commons category, Saints Peter and Paul Church, Blockley