St Peter's ChurchHorninghold church seems, on the architectural evidence, to have been built in the early 12th Century. In or shortly before 1151 it was confirmed to Belvoir Priory by Archbishop Theobald, after an unsuccessful attempt by Geoffrey de Normanville to distribute the monks’ title. The church was appropriated before 1220, and Belvoir Priory remained the patron until the Dissolution. The church of St Peter stands to the south-west of the village. It is built of ironstone and limestone and consists of chancel, nave, north and south aisles, north porch, and spired west tower. Its most striking feature is the early 12th Century south doorway. Archdeacons’ reports in the 17th and 18th Centuries recommended routine repairs and complain only of defective roofs, damp floors, and defective fittings. By 1794 cracks were reported in the walls of the tower, which needed underpinning. Repairs to the church were carried out in 1829 and in 1836 the chancel roof was renewed. New internal fittings were provided between 1833 and 1844. In the early 19th Century the tower arch was blocked with brickwork. A restoration took place in 1904-6, when the porch was rebuilt and new three-light windows were inserted in the side walls of the chancel. In 1934 the church was in poor condition generally and severe structural defects had developed. A restoration, which included repairs to the roofs, was completed in 1936. In 1951 two buttresses were added near the west end of the south aisle. The architect for both restorations was Albert Herbert of Leicester. During the excavation for the buttresses in 1951 a 13th Century coffin lid of Clipsham stone was unearthed and placed inside the church. The plain octagonal font bowl stands on circular supports and is probably of the 13th Century. The cover maybe the one supplied in response to an archdeacon’s request in 1777. There are three bells; one made in 1628 and two are un-dated. The registers date from 1661 with a gap in the entries of baptisms from 1800 to 1811.
|