Church of St Peter and St Paul, Blockley

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is a Church of England parish church in Blockley, Gloucestershire, England. The church is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

Church of St Peter and St Paul
52.012468°N 1.761557°W / 52.012468; -1.761557
LocationThe Square, Blockley, Gloucestershire, GL56 9ES
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
Previous denominationRoman Catholic Church
ChurchmanshipBroad Church
WebsiteChurch website
History
StatusActive
Architecture
Functional statusParish church
Heritage designationGrade II* listed
Administration
ParishBlockley with Aston Magna
DeaneryNorth Cotswold
ArchdeaconryArchdeaconry of Cheltenham
DioceseDiocese of Gloucester
Clergy
Vicar(s)The Revd Canon Dana Delap
Laity
Churchwarden(s)Rob Greenstock and Graham New

History

The Church of England parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul is late Norman,[2] built in about 1180.[3] The chancel is of three bays[2] but only one of the six Norman lancet windows, that at the east end of the north wall, survives unaltered.[3] At the end of the 13th century a two-storey extension was added on the north side of the chancel.[4] The upper floor is a chantry chapel [5] and the lower is a vestry.[3] In about 1310 the east window of the chancel was inserted and at least two of the windows in the south wall of the chancel were enlarged in the Decorated Gothic style.[3] At the end of the 14th century the north aisle was added, linked with the nave by an arcade of four bays.[3] The large Perpendicular Gothic window in the middle of the south wall of the chancel was inserted in the 15th century, replacing the Norman original.[3]

The south porch was added in 1630, the clerestorey was added to the nave in 1636 and the north arcade was probably rebuilt in the same century.[4] The bell tower was built in 1725, probably replacing an earlier one.[3] The west gallery was inserted in 1735.[3] The church was restored and the north porch added in 1871.[3] By 1854 the tower had a ring of six bells, of which the two oldest were cast in 1638 and the remainder in 1679, 1683, 1729 and 1854.[3] The bells were increased to a ring of eight,[6] and in 2016 an appeal was launched to replace the bell frame and to increase the number of bells to ten.[7]

Present day

The ecclesiastical parish now forms part of the Vale and Cotswold Edge team of Church of England churches,[8] with the Team Vicar remaining responsible for Blockley and its outlying villages of Paxford, Draycott and Aston Magna, as well as the parish of Bourton-on-the-Hill.[9]

The church is used as St Mary's Roman Catholic church in the Father Brown television series and the vicarage transformed into presbytery for Father Brown's residence.[10][11]

In 2017 the bell frame was replaced by John Taylor of Loughborough. At the same time all the bells were removed and cleaned. The tenor bell was recast, two new trebles added, and all the headstocks and other equipment replaced.[12] [13]

Notable people
  • Erasmus Saunders, (1670–1724) a Welsh priest and writer, curate and then vicar at the beginning of the 18th century
  • Thomas Wilson, vicar, later Dean of Worcester (1571–1586)
  • Thomas Henry Morgan (1898-1957) buried in churchyard, [14] original Welsh composer of Welsh standard c.1940 We'll keep a Welcome (in the hillside)
  • The church within the village
  • Church tower
  • South porch
  • South-west view

References
  1. "Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, The Square, Blockley - Cotswold". Heritage at Risk. Historic England. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  2. Verey, 1970, page 121
  3. Victoria County History, 1913, pages 265-276
  4. Verey, 1970, page 122
  5. Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40/541; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT6/R2/CP40no541a/bCP40no541adorses/IMG_0455.htm; second entry, with William the chaplain of the Chantry in Blokkeleye
  6. The Gloucester & Bristol Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers: North Cotswold Branch Archived 20 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Funding appeal is launched to restore Blockley's famous bells". Cotswold Journal.
  8. "Mission and Pastoral Measure Pastoral Scheme" (PDF). Church of England. Diocese of Gloucester. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  9. A Church Near You: St Peter & St Paul, Blockley
  10. "Cotsworld journal". Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  11. "Father Brown". St Peter & St Paul Church, Blockley. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  12. "Blockley church bells to ring again". Cotswold Journal. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  13. "Residents pack into Blockley Church to celebrate return of refurbished bells". Cotswold Journal. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  14. A Welsh Uncle -Memories of Tom Morgan 1898–1957, John Dann, FastPrint Publishing, 2018 ISBN
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