St Peter's Church is in the village of Waverton,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active

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 ...

parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Malpas. Its

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

is combined with those of St John, Aldford and St Mary, Bruera.

History

The earliest documentary evidence of a place of worship on the site is in a charter of confirmation dated 1093. Later references are in a will dated 1599 and in documents relating to the building of a north chapel in 1640 by John Tilston of Lower Huxley Hall. In the 19th century, restorations of the body of the church took place, one in 1845 and another in 1888 by John Douglas when the

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 ...

was rebuilt. The pyramidal roof was added to the tower in the late 19th century.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

Waverton red sandstone with a Lakeland green

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof. The plan consists of a large west tower, a nave of three

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

with a clerestory, a chancel of one bay, and north and south aisles. The tower is large and, in the opinion of Richards, disproportionate to the size of the church. It is in three stages with a four-light Perpendicular window dated 1888 on the west face. Above this are square openings with

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

s, a single

string course A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the ...

, three-light bell openings and an

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 ...

parapet. The pyramidal roof is recessed and shingled. The doorway on the west face is Tudor in style and it leads to a porch containing a

weathered ''Weathered'' is the third studio album by American rock band Creed, released on November 20, 2001. It was the last Creed album to be released until '' Full Circle'' came out in October 2009, with Creed disbanding in June 2004. It is the only Cr ...

statue of the Virgin and Child between shields of the Dutton and Hatton families.

Interior

The 17th-century roofs of the nave and aisles were retained during the restorations and are dated 1635. The octagonal

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

is from the 17th century. The chancel walls are timber-framed internally and are possibly medieval, but more likely a later copy of the original walls. Memorials are to previous rectors of the church and to members of the Dutton family of Hatton. The east window has three lights and is Perpendicular in style. 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 ...

dated 1903 is a memorial to the 1st Duke of Westminster. In the tower are the

royal arms The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, or the royal arms for short, is the arms of dominion of the British monarch, currently King Charles III. These arms are used by the King in his official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom. Varian ...

of Charles II, painted in 1663, and a table of tithes. 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. Four of these are dated 1615 by George Lee, two dated 1908 are by John Taylor and Company, and the other two are dated 2008 by

Taylors Eayre & Smith Ltd John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...

. The parish registers date from 1582 and the churchwardens' accounts from 1744.

External features

The gates, gatepiers and churchyard walls, which are almost complete, are listed at Grade II. In the churchyard is a red sandstone

sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...

dated 1731 which is also listed at Grade II. The churchyard also contains the war graves of two soldiers of World War I, and an airman of World War II.

History

Architecture

Exterior

Interior

External features

See also

References

Further reading