St Peter & St Paul, Exton
This pretty church, another Grade II listed building, dating back to the 13th century, stands on the foundations of an earlier church built in 940. Of the four churches in the benefice, St Peter and St Paul is the only one with a weeping chancel1. The church has been improved and modernised over the years and recently the early 20th century stencil of the tree of life at the east end of the church was restored to its original condition. The church is in the middle of the village and you can park on the edge of the road alongside the church wall.
1 weeping chancel – a chancel that is offset from a true east-west orientation symbolizing the attitude of Christ’s head on the Cross
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History of St Peter & St Paul, Exton
The church of St Peter and St Paul is an early English two-cell
church (c.12th century), but as regularly said of old churches, “it
is believed that an earlier church existed on the same site!” The
church is built of flint and mortar. The church was greatly
altered in the 1840's, since when further changes have been
more cosmetic.
Situated within the East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty, the church is in the centre of the village conservation
area. It stands within a well-tended churchyard bounded on all
sides by a flint wall, with large chestnut and other trees
enhancing the view of the church and surrounding countryside.
Exton church is unusual in having a “weeping chancel”, with a
distinct angle at the junction with the nave. Again unusually,
the chancel weeps to the south and this feature is readily seen
from the back of the nave.
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Weeping Chancel with stencilled wall painting |
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Of particular interest is a stencilled wall painting on the east wall behind the altar. This was designed by Charles Spooner in the mid 1890's at the same time that he designed the stained glass windows. It depicts a stylised “Tree of Life” and was discovered by chance in 1995 when the newly painted east wall began peeling a few weeks after redecoration. Its existence had been unknown to any of the current congregation as it had been covered up in the mid-1920's as a result of damp. This wall
painting has now been restored to its former glory. An inscription surrounding the quatrefoil window is the first verse of the Benedicite…. |
O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord
Praise him and magnify him for ever.
Go to our downloads page for a PDF version of this brief history that you can either view online or save to disk .
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