St Peter's Church, Hook Norton

St Peter's stands in the middle of Hook Norton, west of Banbury, and Historic England lists it Grade I. Its Norman font is the reason to stop: a tub carved with Adam and Eve, named in a Latin inscription, alongside signs of the zodiac. The chancel is Romanesque, and medieval paintings survive on the walls.

The story of St Peter's

The church was built in stages from the twelfth century to the fourteenth, and the listing reads them in the stone. The chancel and north transept are Romanesque. The south transept and south aisle are late twelfth century, in the style between Norman and Gothic, and the nave and north aisle are Early English to Decorated. The clerestory and the west tower are Perpendicular, and the listing dates them to the fourteenth century. The Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust adds that much was altered in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The porch was rebuilt in 1825.

The village's own trail adds that the d'Oilly family gave Hook Norton's church to Osney Abbey in Oxford, which held it from 1129 until 1539.

What to look for

Go to the font first. It is a Norman tub, carved with Adam and Eve, each named, and with signs of the zodiac including Sagittarius and Aquarius, a mix the Historic Churches Trust calls unusual for a font. Then look for:

• The chancel's two round-headed Norman windows, a double piscina and two-seat sedilia in its south wall, and a niche in the north wall that was once a doorway
• A fifteenth-century wall painting over the chancel arch, which the village trail identifies as Peter and Paul, and a fourteenth-century fragment over the south arcade
• The memorial to John Croker, dated 1568, and to Anne Wise, 1703, in the north transept, with part of an Elizabethan tomb
• Lampet family memorials of 1781 to 1858 in the nave
• An east window of 1881 by Ward and Hughes, and a south aisle east window the listing says is possibly by Morris
• The parish chest of 1727 and the village's old fire engine, both pointed out by the village trail

The tower has four stages, eight pinnacles and gargoyles, and the Historic Churches Trust says it holds a ring of eight bells.

Visiting St Peter's

The benefice's page says its churches are open every day for private prayer, and gives no hours, so come in daylight. The Historic Churches Trust's Ride and Stride page mentions toilets reached through the north entrance, so ring ahead if you need them. Services take priority. For anything else, ring the benefice administrator on 01608 737995.

Getting there

The church is on the High Street in the centre of the village, a short walk from the pubs. Park considerately in the village. Our Hook Norton circular starts nearby.

Nearby

Hook Norton Brewery is at the west end of the village and The Sun Inn is in the village, with the Gate Hangs High and Malthouse Kitchen for lunch. The Rollright Stones are a short drive south-west, and Swalcliffe Barn is on the road back to Banbury.