A chapel of ease was originally built, and called 'St. Peter's in-the-veld' (veld - meaning an open and clear place), within the manor of West Mapledurham (later Buriton). Although the town around the chapelry soon grew larger than that around the main church, St Peter's remained a chapelry to Buriton until 1886, when it became a separate parish. Since 1984 the two parishes have been held in plurality, so the Vicar of Petersfield is now also Rector of Buriton.
St Peter's was originally a Norman building; the north and south aisles were added at the end of the 12th century. The tower was raised to its present height during the 14th century and a parapet added. During the 15th century, several windows with perpendicular tracery were inserted[3]
St Peter's was closed from October 1998 while the 'St Peter's 2000 Project' carried out an extensive restoration and re-ordering of the building. The church was re-dedicated by the Bishop of Portsmouth on 1 October 1999.
The building
St Peter's began as a cruciform shape to which a tower was added soon after construction. The chancel arch has two orders, one ancient and one from the 1873 restoration. It has two transepts, the south of which was used as a chapel, there being a 13th-century piscina in the wall. Each transept has different pillar capitals. The local squires, the Jolliffes, had a gallery for their own use situated in the south-west corner of the church. There was a major fire in 1962 after which the timber above the south side aisle had to be replaced.
Measurements
The chancel is 9.75 metres by 4.27 metres, with modern vestry and organ chamber on the north, nave 18.59 metres by 5.03 metres, with north and south aisles, 4.87 metres and 5.18 metres wide respectively, north porch, and engaged west tower 5.02 metres by 5.18 metres.
Chancel
The chancel has at the east a modern triplet of windows in twelfth-century style, replacing a five-light fifteenth-century window. In the north wall is a late twelfth-century round-headed light, now blocked by the vestry roof, with inner jamb-shafts continued as a roll round the head of the window, unbroken except for a fillet on the springing-line of the arch. On the north the recess is pierced with a modern arch opening to the organ chamber.
Nave
The nave arcades are of four bays, the east arches on both sides being wider than the west. All are round-headed but only the two western arches of the south arcade are old. The columns are circular, as are the capitals of the north arcade, but those of the south are square, with recessed angles, being of somewhat earlier type than the others. They have small scallops and a deep vertical face above them, while in the north arcade the capitals have convex flutes.
As already noted, the pillars of the north arcade have been altered and reset, but the two western pillars and the western respond of the south arcade are in their original positions, the capitals being at a higher level than those of the third pillar and eastern respond. The clerestory of the nave is an early 20th-century addition, with pairs of round-headed windows.
Tower
The west tower is of four stages, the top stage being of fifteenth-century date, embattled, with belfry windows of two cinquefoiled lights, and the lower three stages are of the twelfth century. At the southwest angle is a stair entered from without the church. The side walls on the ground stage are solid, but in the east wall is a wide semicircular arch of two square orders, dating from the first half of the 12th Century, with hollow-chamfered abaci like those of the chancel arch; and over it a plain roundheaded opening from the second stage of the tower, which must have given access to the roof of the early nave, as just above it is a gabled weathering. This latter is not quite central with the opening, its apex being to the south.
Bells
In the tower are eight bells, which are hung for traditional English style Change Ringing. The oldest bell dates back to 1750, and was cast by Robert Catlin of Holborn, London. The Tenor bell, which was cast in 1770 by the firm Pack & Chapman of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, weighs approximately 790kg and is tuned to F. There is a well-established band of bell ringers at St Peter's, with over 30 members of all ages.
The bells in the belfry of St Peter's Church, Petersfield. The tenor bell in the centre.
The font dates from the 15th century. It was replaced in 1873 and lay at the side of the churchyard for 70 years before being restored.
Organ
The organ was replaced in 1992 by Lammermuir Pipe Organs. There is a stained glass window to Bishop Samuel Wilberforce and another to Mary Sumner, founder of the Mothers' Union.
Altar
The altar was created by the noted craftsman Edward Barnsley.
Memorial
A brass tablet on the south wall honours Petersfield's only VC, Loftus Jones. in the west bay of the north aisle are two brass plates, one with an inscription to Anne Holt, 1655, the other to Dr. Thomas Aylwin, 1704, and his wife Mary, 1693. Many of the memorials have been removed from the nave and repositioned in the far south of the church, many in newly created utility rooms.[4]
Plate
The plate comprises a silver communion cup and cover paten of 1568; a second cup and cover paten of 1612, given by Thomas Antrobus, senior, of Heath House; a flagon of 1707; a standing paten of 1721, given in 1830 by Thomas Chitty; an alms dish of 1757, given 1758, and a second dish of 1812, given 1813.[5]
Registers
The first book of the registers runs from 1558 to 1667, and contains entries of deaths from plague in 1563 and 1666; the second from 1669 to 1757, the marriages ending at 1754; the third has baptisms and burials, 1758–1807; the fourth marriages, 1754–84—this is a MS. book, and not the printed book ordered by the Marriage Act 1753; the fifth and sixth continue the marriage entries to 1804 and 1812; the seventh contains baptisms 1808–13, and the eighth burials for the same period. There are churchwardens' accounts in six books from 1751 to 1815, and poor-rate accounts from 1697.[6]
Churchyard
The churchyard lies chiefly on the south, having a gate at the east. The churchwardens' accounts mention the making of steps, a wall, and a gate on the east side of the churchyard opposite New Street (now St. Peter's Road) in 1754. This was so the local squire William Jolliffe, family could enter church less conspicuously.[7]
Thomas (1868-1950) trained at Sarum College. After two curacies in Dorset he was Vicar of Privett before his years at St Peter's (1914 to 1921) and Rector of West Meon afterwards.[15]
^"The Buildings of England: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight” Pevsner,N/LLoyd,D p371 London, Penguin, 1990 ISBN0-14-071032-9
^A History of Christianity in Petersfield, Leaton, E. (ed.) (2001, Petersfield, Petersfield Area Historical Society: Monograph Number 4) ISSN 0262-5970
^"A guide to St Peter's Church, Petersfield" Petersfield; St Peter's Petersfield Parish Office; 2011
^'One hundred years of a pocket borough: Petersfield and Parliament, 1685-1783' Surry, N. p28: Petersfield; Petersfield Area Historical Society (Paper No. 7); 1983 ISSN0308-9266
