St Peter's Shaftesbury

 
Back to > BHUG HomePage > Visitor pages > Shaftesbury Churches

 

 
St. Peter's church is next to Shaftesbury Town Square and the entrance to the church is on one of the very narrow lanes that leads from the town square to Gold Hill, one of the most famous landmarks of Shaftesbury.

St Peters is the most ancient of all the churches in Shaftesbury and stands on Shaftesbury High Street. It is the oldest church in the town, built outside the abbey walls, the remains of which can be visited on Park Walk. The earliest recorded incumbent was John Schip in 1305. The registers in the church begin in 1623. In 1878 the church was closed as being unsafe to use, and remained closed until 1897 when the floor and pews were renewed. Further restoration and repairs were carried out in the early 1900's. Recently a new floor has been installed and new remains of much a much earlier church were uncovered.

St Peter's is the only one of the 12 medieval churches in the Perpendicular style which has been preserved. It possesses an interesting crypt and a fine doorway.

 
Sources:

• Betjeman, J., Sir John Betjeman's guide to English parish churches, revised and updated by Nigel Kerr. London: HarperCollins?, 1993, p. 184.
• Dorset Historic Churches Trust, Dorset Churches. [Dorchester]: DHCT, 1988, p. 43.
• Mee, A., ed., Dorset: Thomas Hardy's country. The King's England. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939, pp. 205-210.
• Newman, J. and Pevsner, N., The buildings of England: Dorset. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, pp. 363-364.
• Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol. 4, North Dorset. London: HMSO, 1972, pp. 61-63.
• Sackett, T. and Sackett, E., Francis Frith's Dorset Churches. Salisbury: Frith Book Co., 2000, p. 92.

 

Currently Available Individual Church Profiles

 

---