Listed Building record MDO27217 - Parish Church of St Peter, West Knighton

Parish Church, C12 church of which only the chancel arch, adjacent walling and parts of nave north wall survive. C13, chancel rebuilt and nave lengthened towards west south arcade and aisle added, lower part of-west tower built. C14, north porch added, and subsequently rebuilt. C15, nave heightened and windows inserted in the north wall, upper part of the tower completed. C16 enlargement of south aisle to form south chapel. C18, west part of the aisle destroyed and arches blocked. Church restored in 1893-4, under Thomas Hardy's supervision, when vestry probably added.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 136-137 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(1) The Parish Church of St. Peter stands to the S.W. of the village. The walls are mostly of stone rubble with some flint, and the roofs are covered with stone slates, lead and tiles. The church was built in the 12th century, but of this date only the E. wall and part of the N. wall of the Nave remain, together with the beginnings of the side walls of the chancel. Early in the 13th century the Chancel was rebuilt and slightly widened towards the N., the nave was lengthened, a South Aisle with its arcade was added and the lower part of the West Tower was built. In the 14th century the North Porch was added; it was subsequently rebuilt, largely with the old materials. In the 15th century the nave was heightened and large windows were inserted in the N. wall; the nave walls were again heightened before the 17th century when the W. part of the N. wall was completely rebuilt. The upper part of the tower was completed in the 15th century. In the 16th century the E. part of the former S. aisle was enlarged to form the present South Chapel and in the 18th century the W. part of the aisle was destroyed and the W. arches of the arcade were blocked. The church was restored, reputedly under the supervision of Thomas Hardy, in 1893–4, when, too, the Vestry was probably added.
The Parish Church of St. Peter
The church is of some interest for the involved archi tectural history which typifies the piecemeal development of many English village churches.
Architectural Description—The Chancel (18½ ft. by 16 ft.) has a plinth on the E. wall only. The E. window is probably of 14th-century origin but mullions and tracery have been removed. In the N. wall is a doorway with chamfered two-centred head and chamfered jambs and a single small lancet window. In the S. wall is a modern doorway to the vestry. The chancel arch has been rebuilt; it is stilted segmental, of one chamfered order with chamfered imposts, and is flanked by square-headed squints covered with modern plaster, perhaps 19th-century.
The Nave (40 ft. by 18 ft.) has at the E. end of the N. wall a shallow 12th-century buttress; between this and the porch the wall has been heightened, first above a weathered offset and secondly above a moulded string. W. of the porch a projecting base course finishing just W. of the window probably indicates the length of the 12th-century nave; the junction between the 17th-century rebuilding of the N. wall and the 13th-century W. wall is masked by a later buttress. The doorway has a restored four-centred head. A 15th-century window to the E., of three lights with restored vertical tracery, originally rose into a gable above the eaves of the nave roof. A similar window to the W. is reset and extensively restored. The S. arcade has four segmental pointed arches, of two chamfered orders, carried on circular piers with moulded capitals and chamfered bases. The W. respond has an attached shaft with a moulded capital; the E. respond is similar but the shaft is missing. The two W. arches are blocked and in the blocking of one is a reset 16th-century window of three trefoiled lights in a square head.
The South Chapel (17 ft. by 14 ft.) has a N. arcade against the nave arcade of two round arches springing from a chamfered rectangular pier and responds with chamfered imposts. In the E. wall is a 13th-century lancet window; in the S. wall is a 16th-century window of three uncusped two-centred lights in a square head; the W. wall has been rebuilt in flint with a 13th-century lancet window reset. The West Tower (5¼ ft. square) is divided externally into three stages by weathered string-courses and has a plain parapet with moulded coping; the upper part is faced internally with modern brickwork. In the lower stage the E. wall has a two-centred arched doorway to the nave; in the W. wall is a restored lancet window. In the second stage there is in each wall a window of two trefoiled lights with pierced spandrels in a square head. In the E. wall is the weathering for a former steeper nave roof, before the nave was heightened. The North Porch (6¼ ft. by 7½ ft.) has an outer doorway with chamfered arched head and continuous jambs with a flat lintel behind the arch.
The Roof to the S. chapel has a flat ceiling, perhaps of the 18th century; the chancel and nave roofs are of 1893–4.
Fittings—Bell: one, by John Wallis, 1603. Brackets: In nave in N.E. and S.E. corners, moulded stone brackets for rood beam, one with roll moulding and carved palmette, the other plain, 13th-century. Chests: in vestry, two small plain oak chests, 31 ins. and 36 ins. long, late 18th or early 19th-century. Graffito: on N. wall of nave by N.E. buttress, IOHN BOW 1.J.76. Monuments: In chancel—on S. wall, (1) to Elizabeth, wife of Richard Warde, 1635, grey marble tablet on moulded stone panel. In nave, (2) to John Adair Hawkins, 1842, and Jane (Williams) his wife, 1863, shield-shaped black marble tablet on grey ground. In churchyard—N.E. of porch, (3) to William [Meer, 16]79, table-tomb carved with symbols of mortality; N.W. of porch, (4) to John Trenchfild, 1688/9, table-tomb. Paintings: in nave—high on E. wall, [Jahveh] within a rayed triangle, early 18th-century; on S. wall over arcade and largely concealed by monument (2), Lord's Prayer, c. 1800. Plate: includes cup and cover paten of 1572, inscribed 1573; paten of 1847, inscribed 1850. Tables of the Creed etc.: in chancel and nave, on E. walls, four stone tablets with cinque-foiled four-centred heads and in moulded frames, inscribed with Lord's Prayer, Creed and Decalogue, all mid 19th-century. Miscellanea: in nave on W. wall above gallery, lead from roof cast with initials, names and dates of churchwardens, HS CW 1815, GEO. HOLDEN CHA. BOOLOCK CW 1744, LEVI GROVES CHURCH WARDEN 1831.’

<2> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 444-5 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<3> Steinmetzer, M F R, 2011, Archaeological recording at St Peter's, West Knighton, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO14576.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 454100 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 16 2025 1:48PM