St. Peter, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire

Description

The parish church of St. Peter, erected towards the end of the 15th century by Abbot William of Winchcombe, Lord Boteler, and the inhabitants, in place of an old church then in ruins, is a fine embattled edifice of stone, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of eight bays, aisles, north and south porches and an embattled western tower, with eight crocketed pinnacles, containing a clock and 6 bells, all cast in 1693, and partly re-cast in 1759 and 1776: the nave and chancel are under a continuous roof, and the battlemented parapet of the clerestory is relieved by crocketed pinnacles rising from corbels: a singular alms box, with three locks, and dating from about 1547, is affixed to one of the pillars: the octagonal stone font, with cover, dates from 1634: in the chancel is a piscina with two shelves, and above it all embattled corbel supporting a projecting panelled ornament of three sides, adorned with the arms of Lord Boteler and the abbey of Winchcombe, and the keys and sword of St. Peter and St. Paul: there is also a monument with kneeling effigy, to Thomas Williams esq. ob. May, 1636, and memorial windows to Mrs. Dent, Mr. Adlard, the Staite family and Mrs. Smith Wood: the chancel and east ends of both aisles were rebuilt in 1690, and the roof repaired about 1850, and in 1872 the church was thoroughly restored, at a cost of £3,300, when the battlements of the nave and chancel were made continuous, the pinnacles renewed and the interior repaired: in the church are two stone coffins found in 1815 at the east end of Winchcombe Abbey church: there are sittings for 700 persons: the church plate includes a chalice, with cover, dated 1570, a chalice given by Henry Harvey in 1677, a paten dated 1686, a flagon presented in 1709, and a peculiar oblong silver-gilt dish, presented to the parish in 1737 by Mr. Edward Beall: in the churchyard stands a Cross, restored in 1897 in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Victoria.

Church Records

The register, including Gretton and Sudeley, dates from the year 1539; and is one of the few original paper registers which was not destroyed when Queen Elizabeth ordered them to be copied on vellum.

The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Winchcombe 1539-1812 is available to browse online.