Stretton-on-Fosse, St Peter's Church

St Peter's Church, Stretton-on-Fosse

St Peter's Church, Stretton-on-Fosse, dates to 1841, but it stands on a site where there has been a church since at least the 11th century. The earliest recorded rector was Nicholas de Lichfield, who was installed in 1160.

History

There was a church here at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, which suggests that a Saxon building stood here before the Norman invasion. Stretton began as a chapelry of Blockley, and burials took place there.

This arrangement caused conflict in the 14th century when the rector of Stretton asked the Bishop of Worcester to allow burials. The Vicar of Blockley objected and insisted that all burials must take place at Blockley, which meant that he gained all the attendant revenues.

The church interior

Stretton was a part of Worcestershire and the parish was in the Worcester diocese until 1918 when the parish was moved to Coventry diocese.

Little is known of the earlier churches on this site. A 16th-century weather vane survives and a nearby house has a door with a sanctuary ring that must have come from the medieval church.

The present church was built in 1840-41 to a design by Thomas Johnson of Lichfield. It was dedicated by the Bishop of Worcester in 1842. The church is very simple in layout, with an aisleless nave stretching 50 feet in length, a chancel, a south vestry, and a west porch that rises up to a striking octagonal bell turret topped by a slender spire.

13th-century cross shaft

Highlights

The oldest surviving feature is a 13th-century stone cross shaft, now stored near the pulpit.

Another historical feature is the west gallery, installed in 1723. There are very few memorials inside the church, but set into the chancel floor is a tablet in memory of Christiana, the wife of Reverend Baptist Hicks. At the foot of the pulpit is a tablet to Robert Purler (d. 1683) and his wife Jane (d. 1671).

On the wall is a tablet remembering Reverend Charles Causton MA, rector from 1840-1866. Two windows in the four-bay nave are dedicated to Reverend Causton, whose tomb stands north of the church. The reredos behind the altar is made of stone and is painted to depict the saints Peter and Paul.

1848 Bible

A worn wall tablet commemorates John Hughes, who died in 1796 at 82 years of age. Hughes was buried in Quinton, Gloucestershire, but in his will he left two pounds annually in perpetuity towards the cost of a Sunday School 'and for no other purpose whatever'. Curiously, there is a second tablet to Hughes with almost the exact same wording but leaving out the 'for no other purpose whatever' phrase.

Also on the wall is a circular iron memorial inscribed in memory of Captain James Dixon of the 6th Battalion Royal Warwick Regiment. Dixon fell at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 at the age of just 23.

The painted stone reredos

Near the west end of the church is a large leather-bound Bible, printed in 1848 and displayed through the generosity of the Longford family.

Table Tombs

Outside the church entrance are four table tombs, dated 1748, 1818, 1830, and 1839. The oldest and most interesting is to Edward Gibbes (d. 1748). The ends are decorated with beautifully-executed carvings, the east face depicting 'The Blooming of the Celestial Sunflower' and the west face showing 'The Death of the Rose of the World'.

1748 Gibbes table tomb

Also in the churchyard is the village war memorial erected in 1919 but bearing the names of local residents who fell in both World Wars.

Visiting

St Peter's Church stands on a rise of ground on Main Street, in the heart of the village. There is parking along the road. The church was open when we visited.