Honing – Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

St. Peter and St. Paul is a fifteenth-century church which was substantially changed in 1795, something highly evident both internally and externally. It’s a peaceful location and there’s a long churchyard, which was extended in the early twentieth century. There has though been a church here since at least the thirteenth century, and a few elements of this have been incorporated into the nave.

The most obvious external change to the church is the chancel, which has been almost ludicrously cut short. There is an area with iron railings around it and this marks the consecrated area of where the chancel once stood. It’s not known what caused this rebuilding, but one historian has suggested that the church caught fire and this was the best repair that could affordably be made.

The new chancel end.

The nicely proportioned tower is contemporary in age to the rest of the church. There was a relatively large-scale restoration of the building completed recently, coupled with the hope of encouraging more people to visit the church. The tower is also now climbable, although only as part of a pre-arranged guided tour.

This is the west doorway on the tower, with the original door having been closed off during the 1795 restoration and a window added. The large window half-way up the tower is from the late fifteenth century, so may have been added after the church was originally constructed, but was likely part of the original design.

We were able to have a look inside the church, so more about that in another post.