St. Peter’s Church occupies an imposing site on the egde of the village overlooking the Avon Valley. In its present form it is a substantial rebuilding from Victorian times but it still retains a great deal of evidence of its medieval past. A number of interesting fittings dating from the 17th century and later can be found inside.
The rebuilding took place in 1872. Messrs Slater and Carpenter surveyed the church in 1870, and reported that both roofs and walls were so bad that nothing short of a rebuild would secure its being put in good order. They had hoped that the tower might be saved and that the arcade separating the nave from the north aisle might be worked in again, with other such features of the church as could be retained. | Very soon after the work started the builders discovered that the tower was in a worse state than they had thought and as the body of the new church was designed to stand higher than the old one, it would have the effect of dwarfing the old tower. Even if it were to be propped up, it certainly would not bear any addition to its height. The villagers made an effort to raise the necessary funds and the Duke of Buccleuch, who had already donated a considerable amount to the church fund, met the costs of both the new tower and a new churchyard wall on the west side.
The church architect, Carpenter was responsible for the famous Chapel of Lancing College. The church consists of a western tower with embattled parapet and a stair turret at its north east corner, also embattled, a nave with aisles, chancel and an organ chamber and vestry on the south side.
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