St. Peter's Church, Petersfield
Encyclopedia
Petersfield, Hampshire
Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth, on the A3 road. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth and London. The town is situated on the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is within the Diocese of Portsmouth
Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth
The Diocese of Portsmouth is an administrative division of the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England. The diocese covers south-east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight...
. The ancient church is still very much a focal point within Petersfield, and is located in the centre of town, on the south side of the Square.
A chapel of ease was originally built, and called 'St. Peter's in-the-veld' (veld - meaning an open and clear place), within the manor of Mapledurham
Mapledurham
Mapledurham is a small village, civil parish and country estate beside the River Thames in Oxfordshire.It should not be confused with the Mapledurham electoral ward of the nearby Borough of Reading, which is a subdivision of that town's suburb of Caversham....
(later Buriton
Buriton
Buriton is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England, 2 miles south of Petersfield. It lies just east of the A3 road....
). Although the town around the chapelry soon grew larger than that around the main church, St Peter’s remained a chapelry to Buriton until 1886, when it became a separate parish. Since 1984 the two parishes have been held in plurality, so the Vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of Petersfield is now also Rector of Buriton.
St Peter's was originally a Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
building; the north and south aisles were added at the end of the 12th century. The tower was raised to its present height during the 14th century and a parapet added. During the 15th century, several windows with perpendicular tracery were inserted
In 1873, a major restoration
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
took place under the architect Sir Arthur Blomfield
Arthur Blomfield
Sir Arthur William Blomfield was an English architect.-Background:The fourth son of Charles James Blomfield, an Anglican Bishop of London helpfully began a programme of new church construction in the capital. Born in Fulham Palace, Arthur Blomfield was educated at Rugby and Trinity College,...
.
St Peter's was closed from October 1998 while the 'St Peter’s 2000 Project' carried out an extensive restoration and re-ordering of the building. The church was re-dedicated by the Bishop of Portsmouth on 1 October 1999.