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St Peter, Reighton, Yorkshire, East Riding

Location
(54°9′43″N, 0°16′9″W)
Reighton
TA 131 754
pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales) Yorkshire, East Riding
now North Yorkshire
medieval York
now York
medieval St Peter
now St Peter
  • Rita Wood
12 May 2003

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Description

The church stands near the top of the hill on the village street. There is a wide view to the NE of the sea (a few trees intervene). The church comprises a nave, chancel, and N aisle of medieval dates; a modern vestry in the NE angle; and a W tower/vestibule renewed at the end of the nineteenth century. The exterior is disguised by a late Victorian stone 'cloak' (Pevsner & Neave 1995, 653).

The tower, porch and much of the nave were faced in stone 1897-1905. Old photographs in the western vestibule under the tower show the church before the rebuilding. There is a plan in Faculty documents in the Borthwick Insititute (Facs. 1892/6 and 1903/21). The plan shows a strong taper of the nave towards the E, and the N aisle tries to rectify this by tapering slightly in the other direction; the later chancel is also awry.

The Romanesque features are the chancel arch, (marginally) the N arcade, and a fine font. The plain jambs of the S doorway have no sculpture.

History

The earliest features are the jambs of the S doorway, the chancel arch and the font. The 3-bay N arcade dates from c.1170-1200; it has water-holding bases. About this time also the chancel was rebuilt with lancet windows. There is an opening said to be 12th century in the N wall of the chancel, (VCH, II, 309). This opening was probably a cupboard or safe place; Morris (1919) found it blocked, just as now presumably.

The church, with its dependent chapels, was given to Bardney Abbey by Walter de Gant in 1115, according to Dugdale. Soon after, Mauger de Argam gave up any claim on the advowson to the Abbey (VCH, II, 398).

Features

Exterior Features

Doorways

Exterior Decoration

Corbel tables, corbels

Interior Features

Arches

Chancel arch/Apse arches

Arcades

Nave

Interior Decoration

Miscellaneous

Furnishings

Fonts

Comments/Opinions

The N arcade is 'E.E.' but included as it is round-headed, and has nailhead used to make dogtooth.

Bibliography

Borthwick Institute: plans in Fac. 1892/6, partial rebuilding; also Fac. 1903/21, tower built

N. Pevsner & D. Neave, Yorkshire: York and the East Riding, 2nd. ed., London 1995.

Victoria County History:York, East Riding, vol. II, Oxford 1974.