Description

STEEPLE ASTON NORTH SIDE
SP4726 (North side)
8/106 Church of St. Peter and St.
08/12/55 Paul
GV II*

Church. C13, C14 and C15; chancel rebuilt 1684; restored and north aisle partly
rebuilt c.1842 by John Plowman; restored 1873 by Charles Buckeridge; vestry
1909. Limestone and coursed marlstone rubble with limestone-ashlar dressings;
Welsh-slate and sheet-metal roofs. Chancel, north-east chapel, nave, north and
south aisles, west tower, truth parch and north-east vestry. C17 chancel, with
moulded strings below windows and the crenellated parapet, has to south 3
Tudor-arched 2-light windows with cussing below the transoms, plus a small
priest's door with a round-arched roll-moulded surround; 3-light east window is
similar but has 2 rows of transoms. Parallel north chapel, with a similar
parapet, has a 3-light C14 east window with reticulated tracery, but is obscured
on the north by the 2-storey C20 marlstone vestry. Marlstone south aisle, with a
deep chamfered plinth and crenellated limestone parapet, has a restored 3-light
south window with geometrical tracery; west window is C19 in C15 style South
parapet breaks around tall porch and has fine gargoyles including a woman with
pitchers; porch has an ashlar front with a canopied niche containing a C19
figure of St. Peter. C14 south door has continuous mouldings. North aisle, with
a moulded parapet and frequent buttresses, has Tudor-arched windows of 3, 2 and
lights with similar drop tracery, and has a 2-light C19 window to west. Large
3-stage rubble tower, with diagonal buttresses and a crenellated parapet, has a
deeply-splayed west doorway, combining a wave mouiding and 2 wide casement
mouldings, below a 2-light window With Y tracery; top stage has 2-light
traceried bell-chamber openings; outer buttresses have blank shields in cusped
rectangular panels. Interior: chancel has a C19 Perpendicular-style roof rising
from large well-carved heads which may be of 1684, and has a large
continuosly-moulded C14 arch leading to the north chapel, which retains an
unusual C14 piscina with a traceried triangular head. C13 chancel arch has
clustered responds with moulded capitals; 4-bay arcades are of similar date but
with circular columns and, to east, detached shafts as responds. Arches are all
of 2 chamfered orders, except the tower arch which is of 3 dying into plain
masonry responds which may be later. South aisle has an ogee-headed piscina and
good C14/C15 head corbels; north aisle has earlier corbels, possibly re-used,
and in the splay of a window is a moulded octagonal pedestal for statue. C19
aisle roofs are in Perpendicular style with moulded timbers; nave has a panelled
5-canted roof. Fittings include an unusual font (possibly C12) with vigorous
chevron decoration, a large number of carved traceried bench ends, some of which
are medieval, and fine Arts and Crafts oak lectern inlaid with various woods
and mother-of-pearl. C15 chancel screen has 2 tiers of open traceried panels and
original ferramenta. North chapel has the late-C17 communion rails with heavy
turned balusters. The fine brass chandelier is probably C18. Chancel, chapel and
the east window of the south aisle have stained glass of c.1900 by C.E. Kempe,
and there are a few C15 quarries in the north aisle. Monuments include a brass
of 1522; a wall tablet to Daniel Greenwood (died 1673), and early-C18 wall
monuments to the Marten family, with a cartouche of arms, and to Richard
Duckworth, rector, with a broken segmental pediment enclosing a garlanded urn
and with flanking consoles. In the north chapel is the notable monument of
c.1730 by Scheemakers to Sir Francis and Lady Page, with 2 fine reclining
effigies below an immense Baroque architectural composition. In grey marble.
(VCH: Oxfordshire: Vol XI, pp41-3; Buildings of England: Oxfordshire; pp786-7)

Listing NGR: SP4760026070

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17548364

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  For the Record