St Peter's Church is the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

Birkby, North Yorkshire Birkby is a village and civil parish about 6 miles north of the county town of Northallerton in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The population of the parish was estimated at 40 in 2016. Etymology The name of the village, first record ...

, a village in England. St Peter's Church was first built in the 12th century. It was demolished and rebuilt in 1776, and in 1872 the arched windows were replaced by Gothic windows, and a porch and

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

were added. Two

vestries A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spent nearly one-fi ...

were added in 1888 by

C. Hodgson Fowler Charles Hodgson Fowler (2 March 1840 – 14 December 1910) was a prolific English ecclesiastical architect who specialised in building and, especially, restoring churches. Life He was born in Nottinghamshire, the son of Robert Hodgson Fowler ...

. It was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

in 1970. The church is built of brick, with stone dressings, and a stone slate roof. It consists of a three-bay nave with south porch and a single-bay chancel. At the west end is a

with two pointed-arched bell openings, and a round-headed arch above. The porch contains a doorway with a pointed arch and a

chamfer A chamfer ( ) is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...

ed surround, diagonal

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es, and it has a coped

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

with a cross. Inside, the oak benches date from the 17th century. A piece of an 11th-century cross shaft is set into the west wall, while a carved capital of about 1160 was found under the floor, having at some point served as a

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkby, St Peter Church of England church buildings in North Yorkshire Churches completed in 1776 Grade II listed churches in North Yorkshire

See also

References