St Peter's Church is a redundant

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a designated Grade I

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 ...

, and is under the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

Early history

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 ...

church stood on the site of the present church by about 1100. This was probably destroyed in 1216 when Sandwich was attacked by the French. The church was rebuilt during the 13th century, it is thought, by

Carmelite , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

s from France. At this time the church consisted of a

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 ...

with north and south

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 ...

s, a tower and a

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 ...

. Beneath the chancel was a

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

undercroft An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area which is relatively open ...

, which was probably used as a

charnel house A charnel house is a vault or building where human skeletal remains are stored. They are often built near churches for depositing bones that are unearthed while digging graves. The term can also be used more generally as a description of a pla ...

. During the 14th century the north aisle was widened and raised in height, and a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

chapel was built at the east end of the south aisle. The north porch was added in the following century. In 1560 a group of Flemish

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

from the Spanish Netherlands came to live in Sandwich, and St Peter's became their church. The tower collapsed in 1661, destroying the south aisle. The Flemings rebuilt the tower, but left the south aisle ruined, and filled in the south

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 * ...

, making it the exterior south wall. They also added a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

to the top of the tower. 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 ...

during the 19th century. In the 1860s the west end was restored after it had been damaged in a storm, the roofs were retiled, the choir stalls were re-arranged, the

box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in chu ...

s were replaced by bench seating, and the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

was moved from its position against the north wall to the southeast corner of the nave. It is thought that some of this might have been directed by the architect William White.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in a mixture of materials, including pebbles, stone

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

, and brick. The roof are tiled. Its plan consists of a nave, a central tower, a chancel, and a north aisle which stretches for almost the whole length of the church. At the southeast of the church is a two-storey vestry. There is a ruined

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

at the east end of the aisle. The tower is in three stages. The upper two stages, built after the collapse of 1661, contain round-headed windows and bell openings, and clock faces. The

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

embattled A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

, and on top of the tower is a square domed cupola. On the south side of the bottom stage of the tower is a 17th-century window. Below this is the blocked south tower arch containing a blocked 17th-century window. On the south side of the nave and chancel are more blocked arches. Above the blocked arches in the nave is the 13th-century

clerestory 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 ...

the contain paired lights. Protruding from the chancel is the south vestry, with a curved

Dutch gable A Dutch gable or Flemish gable is a gable whose sides have a shape made up of one or more curves and has a pediment at the top. The gable may be an entirely decorative projection above a flat section of roof line, or may be the termination of a ...

dating from the middle of the 16th century. This contains square 16th-century windows. The undercroft under the vestry, which is only partly below ground, is lit by two 13th-century openings. The east window dates from the 14th century, and is Decorated in style. There are further Decorated windows in the north aisle, and other windows dating from the 17th or 18th centuries. The north porch has an embattled parapet, and dates from the 15th century. This leads to a 14th-century door. The west door dates from the 19th century, and is in Decorated style.

Interior

Between the nave and the north aisle is a three- bay arcade, and between the chancel and the aisle is a two-bay arcade; both are carried on polygonal

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

. In the chancel is a three-seat

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

, which dates from the 13th century, and a

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...

. There is a blocked

squint Squinting is the action of looking at something with partially closed eyes. Squinting is most often practiced by people who suffer from refractive errors of the eye who either do not have or are not using their glasses. Squinting helps momentari ...

in the sedilia, and another in the north chapel. Also present in the church are the royal arms of Charles II. In the north aisle are a number of late 14th-century tomb recesses. The organ is small, having a single

manual Manual may refer to: Instructions * User guide * Owner's manual * Instruction manual (gaming) * Online help Other uses * Manual (music), a keyboard, as for an organ * Manual (band) * Manual transmission * Manual, a bicycle technique similar to ...

, four

stops Stop may refer to: Places *Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Facilities * Bus stop * Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck dri ...

, and 173

pipes Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circula ...

. It incorporates pipes taken from an earlier organ that was built in about 1880 by Charles H. Hobday, and was installed in the north aisle in 1895. It has since been rebuilt and now stands in the nave. There is 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 eight bells, all cast in 1779 by William Mears. They are unringable because the tower is unsafe, having last been rung (except for the curfew bell) in 1913.

Recent history and present day

In 1948 the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of St Peter's was united with those of St Mary's and St Clement's. St Clement's became the

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, ...

of Sandwich, and St Peter's was closed for regular worship. From 1952 it was used by

Sir Roger Manwood's School Sir Roger Manwood's School is a selective grammar school located in the medieval town of Sandwich, Kent, England. Founded in 1563, it is one of the oldest schools in Britain and the third oldest state grammar school in Kent. Originally an all-b ...

as their chapel. On 22 February 1973 the church was declared redundant and it was

vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property is acquired by some person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vested right to an ...

in the Churches Conservation Trust on 16 April 1974. In the 1990s a garden was developed in what had been the ruins of the south aisle. The garden contains a two-light 14th-century window which was removed from the former St Thomas' Hospital, and erected on this site in 1923. In 2006 the Trust started a seven-year project to repair and redecorate the church. The care of the church is supported by a group known as the Friends of St Peter's. A programme of community events and occasional services is held in the church. At the west end of the church is a display relating to the

Earls of Sandwich Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu. ...

. The ancient custom of ringing the

curfew bell The curfew bell was a bell rung in the evening in Medieval England as the curfew signal for everyone to go to bed.Wood/Peshall, p. 177 A bell was rung usually around eight o'clock in the evening which meant for them to cover their fires — dead ...

from the church at 8pm daily still continues. The church is open daily for visitors.

References