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Grade I listed.

There was already a church on this site named St Peter in the Domesday Survey. It could have been a small Saxon church or a Danish church that was built by Cnut (when he was King of England) near to the site of the 869 battle. There is a strong likelihood that it was used as the foundation for the church that was built 90 years after the Survey was taken.
From a Charter issued by Henry II in 1154, we learn that Simon and Adelicia, the Earl and Countess de Gant (from the Manor House at Folkingham), took sole possession of the Threekingham churches. They, in turn, gave these churches and all their possessions to the recently opened Leper House at the Burton Lazars Monastery in Leicestershire. In about 1170 work started on a new church at Threekingham, and the tower and chancel that were erected then exist to this day. It is unlikely that the Burton Lazars Monastery could finance such an expensive undertaking, and it was most likely sponsored by the Gant family.

The church that resulted was larger than the previous one and built in a style now know as Late-Norman. The new St Peter's had a small chapel built onto the north side of the chancel and this remaind there until 1325 when it was demolished and the stones used to build the north aisle. The blocked up entrance is still visible. The nave was altered in 1280 and the south aisle and porch were added by the de Treckyngham family in 1310. The spire and buttresses were built in 1320. When the de Treckyngham family demolished the small chapel in 1325 they moved the effigies (dating from about 1280) of Sir Lambert & his wife from there to the eastern end of the north aisle where they created a small family chantry.

The final change to St Peter's external structure was the removal of the pitched roof and its wooden shingles in the 16th century. It was replaced by a much flatter roof that was covered in lead, which was last changed in the mid-20th century. The roof's internal structure is mostly original, but some of the wooden supports were replaced in the early 1960s. Internally the church remained as it was until 1859 when the Reverend Ellicott raised enough money for a restoration project that introduced the tiled floor and new pews. The old wooden pulpit was replaced in 1894 but the current marble one. The organ was built in 1906 and the effigies of Sir Lambert and his wife moved to their current resting place at the west end of the nave.

(From church info board display)

Created: Tue, 28 May 2013, Updated: Tue, 28 May 2013