2013

TQ7408 : Interior, St Peter's church, Bexhill

taken 11 years ago, near to Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England

Interior, St Peter's church, Bexhill
Interior, St Peter's church, Bexhill

Grade II* listed.

The church dates back to Saxon times. King Offa of Mercia made a gift of land for the building of the church in 772. The Saxon church was much smaller than the current one and none of it still exists.
The church is mentioned in the Domesday book, and was originally about 20 x 40' in size.
It consists of a west tower with north and south aisles which extend alongside the tower. There is a chancel with south Lady Chapel and north east Chapel, organ chamber, south porch and vestry. It has been much restored.
In 1878 during restoration and enlargement, a carved stone was discovered under the nave floor. This is almost certainly the lid of a reliquary which was placed in the church at the time of its consecration. It is not known the relics which lie under the church.
The Normans added the tower at the west end of the nave, the round headed arches can still be seen.
There is a 12th century tombstone mounted on the wall of the tower which was also discovered in 1878, and is thought to be that of a crusader.
The aisles were added around 1150, and resemble those at Icklesham.
In the 13th century the Norman chancel was enlarged, and again extended in 1878.

In the 15th century a Chantry Chapel was built on the north side of the chancel. It fell into disrepair until 1597 when it was repaired by the Rector Doctor Thomas Pye and turned into a schoolhouse for the children.

The growth of Bexhill in the late 19th century necessitated the restoration and enlargement in 1878. There were still galleries from the 18th century which were removed, and the south aisle widened and lengthened with the creation of a new Lady Chapel. The chancel was extended eastwards at that time.

The chancel walls are painted, this dates from 1893 by W.G. Rich.
The Rood is from 1948 and the mural paintings over the nave arch into the Chantry Chapel are from 1951 by Alan Sorrel.
The sedilia is 19th-century.
Apart from the ancient stones, the church contains few monuments of interest.

The organ replaced a barrel organ in 1881. It was built by Hunter and placed in its current position in 1907. It has a separate console.

See other images of St Peter's church, Bexhill

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Julian P Guffogg and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Religious sites Place: Bexhill Church: St Peters other tags: Church Interior Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · St Peter's Church [23] ·
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TQ7408, 110 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Julian P Guffogg   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Sunday, 21 April, 2013   (more nearby)
Submitted
Sunday, 21 April, 2013
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TQ 7461 0809 [10m precision]
WGS84: 50:50.7590N 0:28.7347E
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TQ 7459 0809
View Direction
EAST (about 90 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Supplemental image
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