Building record 1878/1 - Church of St Peter, Waverton

<1> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /2/28 (Report). SCH1934.

Church of St Peter, the Village. Tower C16, aisles & nave roof early- mid C17, restoration & additions dated 1845 & 1888 by John Douglas when clerestorey rebuilt. Red sandstone, green slate roof. 3-bay nave, 1-bay chancel with continuous N & S aisles. 3-stage W tower. Nave bays are divided by buttresses. On S side is a blocked basket-arched door. 3-light Perpendicular style E window with round-headed light windows in the end of the aisles. Tower has angle buttresses & 4-centred arched W doorway. Louvered bell opening in the top stage, below on an embattled parapet. Internal: Entry into re-opened tower porch with plaques recording the restorations. Tall tower arch on applied hexagonal piers opens with nave with 3-bay arcades on octagonal piers. Restored hammer-beamed roof dated 1635 with carved brackets & pendants. Similar lean-to aisle roofs. Chancel is timber framed internally & has good fittings of late C19/early C20. Full architectural description.

<2> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 2/789-90 (Book). SCH1389.

First reference to a place of worship at Waverton in charter of confirmation of gifts to the new Abbey of St Werburg in 1093. This states that Richard de Rullas gave the church and tithe of Waverton to the Abbey. After the Dissolution, the advowson was granted to the bishop whose successors continued to 1755. A churchyard cross is mentioned in 1572.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ46SE3 1986 (Index). SCH2487.

<4> Richards R, 1947, Old Cheshire Churches, Richards R 1947 /342-4 (Book). SCH2309.

<5> Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust, 2018, St Peter's Church, Waverton, Cheshire: Archaeological Watching Brief, R4220 (Client Report). SCH8549.

An archaeological watching brief was carried out in 2018 at St Peter’s Church, Waverton, during works related to the construction of a new extension.The extension lay to the south of the church tower and to the west of the south aisle of the church; the watching brief was able to record structural details of parts of the building exposed during the construction work. The earliest feature is thought to be the tower, which potentially dates to the 16th century, with much of the rest of the building dating to the following century. This sequence was confirmed, although no absolute dating evidence was revealed.

Although there must have been an earlier church at Waverton, given that the settlement was already in existence by 1066, no evidence relating to an earlier structure was identified. Most of the soil layers recorded were probably of 19th-century or later date, though a deposit which had been protected beneath the stone slab foundations of the tower buttress and south aisle must be of late medieval origin, if not earlier.

Some disarticulated human bone was recovered from the excavations and this was stored for later reburial.