Situated at SW edge of the village, the church of St. Peter, with its large, surrounding cemetery, offers a beautiful view of sloping fields leading down to the River Welland below. The church is primarily of the 13^th c. with a S porch, nave, N and S aisles, chancel and N chapel; in the 14^th c. the high W tower with its broach spire and clerestory were added. Church restorations occurred in 1843-44, 1875 and 1896. The 3-order S doorway is of the 13thc. but the elaborate ironwork of the door is of the Romanesque period and is recorded here.

In 1086, Barrowden was part of the wapentake of Wicelsea in the county of Northampton. Listed in Domesday Book under the property belonging to King William I, the manor of Barrowden included land in Seaton, Thorpe, Morcott, Bisbrooke, Glaston and North Luffenham. Though Domesday Book records no church on these lands, a priest is noted among the villagers and freemen. By 1129, the wapentake, along with Barrowden, had become part of Rutland. In 1163, Henry II conferred Barrowden manor, as part of a larger land grant, to his chamberlain, William Mauduit. The advowson of the church always passed with the granting of the manor.

Though the round-headed, S porch doorway, with its bell capitals, is of the early 13th c., the ironwork on the door is of the late 12th c. The fact that part of band 2 underlies part of band 1 demonstrates the sequence of attachment between these two bands. Just across the River Welland, in Northamptonshire, lies the church of St. Mary, Duddington whose nave, S door has extremely similar ironwork to that of here, at St. Peter’s, Barrowden.