St Peter's

“This Church of Saint Peter was opened for public worship by William, Archbishop of York, June the 5th AD 1871, having been rebuilt on the site of a former very ancient one which, through age and decay, had become unfitted for the service of God”.

This excerpt is from the finely lettered tablet at the back of the church. Records show that there was a church here in the time of King Henry II about 1180. It was probably built by a William Salvin who is known to have owned the estate and wished the Abbey of Sulby to present a priest to the living.

The original church no doubt consisted of a simple nave and chancel. The present doorway with its Raven’s head dates from this time, and the double head of a man and woman over the door inside. A drawing among the Holme on Spalding Moor parish records shows the church in 1840. There is no porch and a small, insignificant bell tower. The roof of the nave is lower than that of the chancel and appears to be covered with a different material. The writer records that it is ‘a small and much defaced building’. Two windows on the north side and a priest's door into the Chancel on the south side were blocked up. From this church there was a 14th century tombstone with an incised cross, now in the floor at the west end and the tracery of the east window.

The present church was rebuilt in 1871 by JW Fowler, an architect from Louth, Lincs. He was a pupil of the Litchfield architect, Potter ,and lived at Louth where he restored the parish church. Amongst other churches he built our St. Mary's, Newington St Swithun’s, Lincoln and St. Mary's, Lichfield.

The faculty for the rebuilding is to be seen among the Diocesan records at the Borthwick Institute, York. The Archbishop amended the plans in one particular; he required that the step should be taken right across the length of the sanctuary.

The patrons of the Benefice, Emma Louise Katherine Slingsby and her husband Thomas, paid for the work which cost £700.

The architect has produced a building well fit for the worship of God by a small village community. The nave is divided from the chancel by a low stone wall and the arrangement of pews, pulpit and reading desk, lectern and altar rails form a harmonious unit. Mr Fowler has subtly marked off various parts of the church with a different treatment of the roof colouring. The chancel differs from the nave and the sacred monogram IHS occurs over the font and altar. He has followed Anglican practise by placing the octagonal font near the door - eight in Christian art is the number of the Resurrection for it was on the 8th day after his entry into Jerusalem that Christ rose from the dead. Holy Baptism is the sacrament of mans’ being buried with Christ and rising with Him and hence the custom of an eight-sided font.

The reredos was erected by the inhabitants of Harswell and others who deeply mourned the loss of a kind friend and liberal landlord, Sir Charles Slingsby. Sir Charles was accidentally drowned in a hunting accident in the river Ure at Newby in February 1869.

If present day opinion regards the reredos as somewhat heavy, it remains nevertheless a monument of fine Victorian craftsmanship.

An enamel tablet in the centre of the reredos depicts a pelican feeding its young. According to legend, the pelican - which has the greatest love of all creatures for its offspring - pierces its breast to feed them with its own blood. It is on the basis of this legend, that the pelican came to symbolise Christ's sacrifice on the cross because of his love for all mankind. In this sense, it also symbolises the Holy Communion. The two other tablets have the letters Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet - a symbol of God the Son. This usage is based on Revelations 1- 8 “I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End”, says the Lord.

The altar candlesticks were given by Mrs Evans in 1954, the altar cross is Victorian, the red frontal is probably the same as made for the church in 1870. The east window was given by Mr Basil Woodd of Conyngham Hall, Knaresborough in memory of the Reverend Henry Mitton. It depicts three scenes of the life of the church’s patron saint, Saint Peter.

In the north panel is Saint Peter’s call; centre: the Transfiguration, south: Christ’s command to the apostle ‘Feed my Lambs’. The saint’s emblem, the cock, is shown in the weathervane on the bell tower.

In 1954, three oil lamps, formally in Seaton Ross church, were electrified and the wall brackets and fine chandelier presented by Mrs R Evans were put in. Worthy of note are the War Memorial window depicting the Resurrection, the stone memorial to John Featherby, brass tablets to Hugh Nottingham and George Deane, the Victorian Bishops’ chair and, in the vestry, an 18th century York safe.

The church stands well and the exterior is perhaps seen to best advantage from the road to Everingham. In the graveyard are a number of early 19 century tombstones with excellent lettering.

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