St Peter's Church, Everleigh

St Peter's Church, in Everleigh, Wiltshire, England was built in 1813 by John Morlidge for F.D. Astley. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II* listed building,[1] and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[2]

St Peter's Church
Location	Everleigh, Wiltshire, England
Coordinates	51°17′11″N 1°43′02″W
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated	27 May 1964[1]
Reference no.	1035994
Location of St Peter's Church in Wiltshire

Everleigh had a parish church by 1228, when it was granted to the Benedictine Wherwell Abbey in Hampshire.[3] The advowson was held by the abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries after which is passed to Thomas Wriothesley and his descendants.[3] The mediaeval parish church was demolished in 1814 and the present Church of England parish church of Saint Peter was consecrated on a site about 0.5 miles (800 m) north-west of it.[3] The present church was designed by the architect John Morlidge[3] in a Georgian Gothic Revival style for Sir Francis Dugdale Astley.[4][5]

The church is built of Bath stone. It consists of a nave with the south porch attached, chancel with a south chapel, and a west tower.[3] The nave is 41 feet 6 inches (12.65 m) by 26 feet (7.9 m), while the chancel is 16 feet (4.9 m) long and 14 feet (4.3 m) wide.[6] The tower holds six bells cast by James Wells of Aldbourne.[3]

The interior contains the bowl of the Norman font from the old church, on a later base and shaft.[4] The bowl is decorated with scallop shaped decorations separated by inverted "V" shapes.[7] There are many memorials to the Astley family.[1] There is a large gallery above the west end of the nave, which when it was built held a barrel organ. The organ was replaced by one in the vestry in 1879.[6]

The church was declared redundant on 18 April 1974, and was vested in the Trust on 22 October 1975.[8] It is open to visitors every day; the key is held locally.