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St Peter, Creeton, Lincolnshire

Location
(52°46′1″N, 0°29′54″W)
Creeton
TF 014 199
pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales) Lincolnshire
now Lincolnshire
  • Thomas E. Russo

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Description

Isolated on a hillside, this quaint church is primarily of the late 13thc. with W tower, nave with S transept and chancel. Tower has a broach spire. The church was restored in the 1850s. The chancel arch is of the late 12thc. and an Anglo-Saxon grave cover, re-cut in the 12thc., now stands upright in the churchyard.

History

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Survey but no church is recorded. However, the numerous Anglo-Saxon cross-shaft and grave-cover fragments found here argue for the existence of a pre-Conquest churchyard if not a church in Creeton.

Features

Exterior Features

Other

Interior Features

Arches

Chancel arch/Apse arches
Comments/Opinions

Re-cut grave cover: according to an unpublished manuscript in the Lincoln Central Library which Everson and Stocker refer to, this grave cover was 'found in taking down the old walls of Creeton church in 1856-57'. It is one of the most complete examples of the Anglo-Saxon, mid-Kesteven type grave cover in the county and, based on the re-cutting of one edge, appears to have reused at some point in time as a door lintel (Everson and Stocker). Agreeing with previous scholarship, Everson and Stocker believe the re-cutting of this stone was done when it was reused as a grave cover and prior to its use as a lintel. However, the use of the saltire cross motif above 12thc. doorways is known from the tympani at Rowston and Edenham and raises the possibility that the re-cutting was done when this stone was in fact reused as a lintel.

Chancel arch: The crisp edges of the responds and the arch suggest that they were renewed, perhaps during the mid-19thc. renovations. The capitals appear to be of the late 12thc. though the lack of necking and chamfering at their base suggest a reworking.

Bibliography

N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire. London, 1990, 236-37.

P. Everson and D. Stocker, Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture. Lincolnshire. Vol. 5, London, 1999, 142-43.