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Please click on the picture below to view lots of photographs or see below for A History of St. Peter's Church......
A History reproduced from Kineton - The Village and its History with the kind permission of the Kineton and District Local History Group
Although there is no mention of a church in the Saxon charter of AD 969, it is probable that there was a simple wooden structure in the vicinity. There was certainly one in Kineton in 1135, for in that year Henry I gave a church, already dedicated to St. Peter, to the Priory of Kenilworth. Some time late in the thirteenth century work began upon a new church, and in July 1315 the completed building, probably consisting only of a nave, chancel and tower was reconsecrated.
The only survival from this period is the handsome west tower, with its fine doorway and small window above. The pinnacles and battlements around the tower have inevitably been restored many times, but their present form may be similar to the original outline. The stone clock dial on the south wall of the tower was installed a few years before the existing clock which dates from 1884. The present clock was chosen at a London exhibition by a group of Kineton businessmen, and paid for by public subscription. The wrought-iron weathervane was made by Thomas Coates in 1794. In the Bell Chamber are six fine bells cast by Abraham Rudhall I, four dated 1703, one 1716 and the tenor inscribed "Prosperity to this towne and all our benefactors. AR 1717."
The nave and chancel, although both of the same toffee-coloured stone as the tower, are of much later date. In the late 1750s, the vicar, the Rev William Talbot, engaged Sanderson Miller, the gentleman architect and country squire from nearby Radway Grange, to 'improve' the church in the Gothick manner by enlarging the existing nave with a north aisle and by adding two transepts. It would seem that the cost of rebuilding was met privately - possibly even by William Talbot himself - as no charge whatsoever was made to the parish of Kineton itself. A series of three-light, ogee headed windows were introduced at that time. Then, between the mid 1870s and 1882, following the precedent set by William Talbot, the Rev Francis Miller also carried out an ambitious rebuilding programme, which transformed the church both inside and out, into something very similar to the present day building, at a cost of some £4,174.
The 13th century west doorway, which leads into the church through a vaulted passage, appears unusually truncated because the ground level has risen about three feet over the centuries. Inside, above the entrance, is the small West Gallery, all that remains of an L-shaped gallery that ran along the west and north walls and which was reached by a staircase to the north-west corner. Today this corner is home to the 19th century 'naughty boys cage', which came from the village school and which was used by various head teachers during that period as punishment for bad behaviour and truancy.
Further down the north aisle is an iron-bound, round-topped chest from the sixteenth century complete with nine hinges, three hasps and padlocks. The chest would have been used for the safe keeping of the parish records and church valuables. The keys to the three locks were kept by three separate people - the parson, and the two churchwardens - a simple security measure which meant that no-one could gain access without the presence of all three men.
The north aisle also holds a well preserved, recumbent figure of a 14th century priest with clerical tonsure. The flag in the north transcept was flown by Admiral Walter Cowan at the surrender of the German Fleet in the Firth of Forth on 21 November 1918, while the flag on the south wall by the brass war memorial flew over the Clarendon House VAD Hospital in Bridge Street during the 1914-1918 War.
The chancel itself was not always in the reasonable state of repair seen today. Traditionally, responsibility for the upkeep of the nave lay with the villagers, while the chancel was maintained by the tithe owners (often the Lord of the Manor). In 1684, diocesan inspections drew attention to a "very bad earthen floor" and to the fact that the graves of Charles Bentley and his daughter Frances were not filled in. In the 1820s the churchwardens complained that it took many hours to wheel away the snow coming through the chancel roof.
The church contains several monuments to the families of the later Lords on the Manor, including the Bentley monuments displaying their heraldic mermaid. there are also memorials of some of the vicars of the parish, and of various villagers remembered for their service to the church and to the community. These are described in the church guide The Parish Church of St Peter, by Peter Titchmarch.
For more information on Kineton Village and how to obtain a copy of Kineton - The Village and its History please visit
www.kineton.org.uk |
