St
Peters
St Peters church, located on Marefair -
Black Lion hill, was built around 1160 on the site of a
Saxon church. During the build, some of the Saxon
carvings were incorporated into this church. Simon de St.
Liz' grandson, Simon de Senlis |||, is thought to have
built this church. It is most noted for boasting some of
the finest Norman architecture in England. The
foundations of A Great Hall was unearthed next to St.
Peter's Church in Marefair. This is reputed to be the
home of a prince and was originally constructed of timber
around 750 AD. Around 70 years later it was rebuilt from
stone and made much larger. It was perhaps the first
municipal building in town.
Sir George Gilbert Scott restored the whole church in
1850, reconstructing most of the clerestory but leaving
the Norman carvings well alone. St Peter's boasts a 14th
century font, a 12th century grave slab with astonishly
clear relief carving and some fine Victorian stained
glass.
Unfortunately, the church is redundant but still has
permission to hold certain services a year as well as
carry out the occassional baptism, marriage and burial.
It is still cared for and maintained by the new owners,
the Churches Conservation Trust and a group called the
Friends of St. Peters.
Update:........After 10 years of closure it has
officially been re-opened to visitors. A restoration
project from fundraising and funds from the Churches
Conservation Trust has enabled this deconsecrated
heritage site to be used as a community resource. The
restoration programme consisted of internal repairs which
included the uncovering & unveiling of a finely
decorated east chancel wall carried out in the mid 19C by
architect Sir George Gilbert Scott, the cleaning of all
marble monuments, a decorative mosaic and the 19th
century wooden reredos, a decorative screen on the wall
at the back of an altar.
William Smith, the
father of Geology died in Northampton, and is buried in
an unmarked grave a few feet from the west tower of St
Peter's.
