St Peter ad Vincula Church of England

St Peter ad Vincula

Christians have worshipped on this site for over a thousand years. The western end of the nave is probably the earliest part of the present building; the hilltop site and unusually thick walls suggest that it might once have been a Norman keep. The aisles were added in the 13th and 14th centuries. The medieval wall painting dates to c. 1200 and the baptismal font to the same period. The nave roof was raised in the 14th century, when the many clerestory windows were inserted and added in the 15th century were the two porches. The high altar is the original stone one from before the Reformation. Having been hidden when Henry VIII ordered stone altars to be destroyed, it was found and reinstalled as the main altar in 1937. A window is dedicated to the Huguenot glassmakers of the late 16th century and there are references to the fallen Canadian soldiers of Dieppe.