St Peter's Church is the parish church of Yaxham in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England, in the

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 ...

of Mattishall and the Tudd Valley, and in the

Diocese of Norwich The Diocese of Norwich is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Church of England, forming part of the Province of Canterbury in England. Its origins trace back to the early medieval bishopric of See of Elmham, Elmham and Thetford, which were ...

."Yaxham St Peter: More information"
''A church near you''. Retrieved 8 April 2024. It is a

round-tower church Round-tower churches are a type of church found mainly in England, mostly in East Anglia; of about 185 surviving examples in the country, 124 are in Norfolk, 38 in Suffolk, six in Essex, three in Sussex and two each in Cambridgeshire and Berks ...

, dating mostly from the medieval period. The building is

Grade I 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, Hi ...

History and description

The earliest part of the church is the banding of carstone at the base of the tower, which probably predates the Norman conquest. The rest of the tower dates from the late 11th or early 12th century, with the upper part dating from the 14th century, with four bell-openings, each of two lights, and a post-medieval

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

d parapet. Most of the rest of the building is of the 14th and 15th centuries. There is 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 a south aisle and four

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

windows, and a

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

. There is a late-medieval south porch."Yaxham St Peter"
''The Round Tower Churches of Europe''. Retrieved 8 April 2024."St Peter's Church, Yaxham"
''Norfolk Heritage Explorer''. Retrieved 8 April 2024.

Interior

The 14th-century south arcade has four bays, with alternating

foiled ''Foiled'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Blue October, released on April 4, 2006, by Universal Records. The album debuted at number 29 on the US Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200, marking the band's first entry on the chart. Th ...

and octagonal piers. The octagonal font, carved with blind

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...

and with

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the Old French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of a crocket to a bishop's Shepherd's crook, ...

ted

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

s, is of the 15th century. There is a medieval

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. Lutherans and Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a pisci ...

in the south aisle, and a later piscina in the chancel. There was restoration in the 19th century; the stained-glass windows are from this period. The ends of the pews, of the 19th or 20th century, are decorated in the south aisle with carvings of birds and animals.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaxham, Saint Peter's Church Grade I listed churches in Norfolk Church of England church buildings in Norfolk Round-tower churches