Church of St Peter Croft-on-Tees, England

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

CROFT-ON-TEES A 167 NZ 2809-2909 (north side) 10/23 Church of St Peter 18.3.68

GV I

Church. C12, C13, C14 and C15, restored 1876 except for chancel, restored 1887-1900 by J P'Pritchett the younger. Coursed rubble red sandstone and ashlar brown sandstone, Westmorland slate and lead roofs. 3-bay aisled nave with south-west tower and south porch; 3-bay chancel with C19 north vestry. Tower: of 2 stages, the lower one C12 and C13 and of red standstone, the upper one C19, of brown sandstone; stepped diagonal buttress to left; ground-floor pointed-arched window of two 5-cusped lights; set into the later stonework below the string, carved heads and a stone carved with "IHS", also a sundial; above the string a clock, and at each corner a coat of arms formerly recorded as being on the porch, that to left of Roland Place, that to right of Richard Clervaux (2 rival local landowners whose quarrels were settled by arbitration of Richard, Duke of Gloucester in 1478); belfry opening of 2 triple-cusped lights with pierced tracery; C19 battlemented parapet; matching belfry openings to east, north and west; also to west on lower stage trefoiled lancet window. Nave: south porch C15, but with open entrance of double-chamfered round arch on corbel capitals; ashlar coping; inside porch, bench tables reusing medieval tombstones; inner doorway has continuously moulded pointed arch with label. C13 south aisle has two C19 Y-tracery 2-light windows with label flanking C19 stepped buttress, and with C19 diagonal stepped buttress and ashlar coping to right; similar east window but with head stops to label. 3 straight-headed clerestorey windows, each of 2 round-arched triple-cusped lights. Battlemented parapet. North side: 2 westernmost bays of aisle C14, easternmost bay C15, from west having stepped buttress, 2-light window, C19 stepped buttress, chamfered continuously-moulded north door with label, narrow 2-light window, C19 stepped buttress, renewed window of 3 triple- cusped ogee-headed lights with quatrefoil tracery above, stepped buttress; aisle east window of two 5-cusped lights forming Y-tracery; clerestorey as south side. West end: some C12 masonry, and C14 double-chamfered window of 3 trefoiled lights with reticulated tracery above, blocked trefoiled chamfered lancet to north aisle. Chancel: early C14; from left, double- chamfered low-side window; 2-light Y-tracery window with head stops to label, pointed-arched continuously-hollow-moulded priest's door with large head stops to label, and above it a window of 2 trefoiled lights with quatrefoil above and head stops to label, stepped buttress, C19 matching window, stepped buttress with elaborately carved canopied niche. East window of 5 triple-cusped lights, the window having been given a straight head when the chancel roof was lowered in the early C15; flanking the window are stepped buttresses with canopied niches, elaborately carved, especially that to south. On north side, lean-to vestry and gabled organ chamber above heating chamber; further west, C19 window matching belfry openings; blocked chamfered doorway with label; chamfered window. Interior: C13 3-bay south arcade, with double-chamfered pointed arches with labels on octagonal columns with nailhead motif on capitals and moulded bases, the western respond on tower north wall a colonette on a high base; C14 3-bay north arcade of 4-centred double-chamfered arches with well-carved heads on label stops, the westernmost arch dying into the nave west wall, and the easternmost arch hidden by the Milbanke pew; corbels set into the wall above; C13 chancel arch, rebuilt in 1729, of 2 large round chamfered orders on short colonette responds with fillet and Early English capitals. C19 arch to organ chamber and vestry. C15 hollow-moulded pointed arch to tower, with head set in wall to north. On south side of chancel, early C14 triple sedilia with stepped seats, and pointed-arched cusped canopies with stiff- leaf capitals to colone