St Peter's Church, Ropsley

St Peter's is built in ashlar-dressed limestone rubble, and is Norman and Early English in style. It consists of a chancel, nave, two aisles, a west-facing tower with spire, a south chapel, and a south porch.

The 13th-century tower is in three stages, surmounted by a later 14th-century broach spire incorporating three tiers of lucarnes.[5][9] Of the tower's two upper stage belfry openings, one is bounded on its sides by narrow columns and headed by a tympana arch containing trefoils. The nave clerestory could be of either Decorated or Perpendicular period.[5] It has four windows north and south and is headed by a plain parapet of little height. The nave roof, drained by two gargoyles on its north side, is lead, and the chancel roof, red tile.[5][9]

The Perpendicular south porch is surmounted by pinnacles and by a panelled parapet decorated with shields in quatrefoils. An inscription on the outside face of the porch reads: "Hac non vade via, nisi dicas Ave Maria" (go not away unless you say an Ave Maria).[5][9][10]

St Peter's accommodates seating for 200.[10] The interior contains a north arcade of three bays with circular piers, square abaci, and rounded arches. The chancel arch is Early English, as is the south arcade where one octagonal pier is a 1380 replacement attributed, by inscription, to Thomas Bate, mason of Corby: "Ista columna facta fuit ad festum Sancti Michaelis, Anno Domini MCCCLXXX et nomen factoris thomas bate de Corby."[5][9]

There are two tomb recesses, one in the south aisle and plain, the other, in the chancel. Pevsner describes the chancel recess as 13th-century, with English Heritage noting it as 14th. Within the chancel is an aumbry, and a double-niche sedilia or Easter Sepulchre, both 14th-century.[5][9][10] A further aumbry, and a piscina, are part of the early 13th-century south chapel.

The 15th-century font is octagonal, and of Perpendicular style with quatrefoils and shields.[5][9] The pulpit dates from the 20th century, the altar rails, the 18th, and the pews, the 19th but retaining 15th-century poppy head bench ends.[5][9]

Within an east window of the north aisle are fragments of medieval glass with an inscription indicating a 1376 reference to Sir John Welby.[5][9]

In a south aisle recess, beneath an ogee arch with carved small figures, is an effigy of a lady in 14th-century costume, her head resting on two small cushions.[5][9][10]

An alabaster war memorial plaque to parish war dead of the First World War hangs in the church. Further church memorials include a commemorative brass plate on a choir pew to a soldier killed in battle at Arras in 1917. A south wall stained glass window was erected in 1949 in memory of Sgt. Philip Dales, an RAF fighter pilot killed in Belgium in 1941.[12] A later scroll of honour as a framed photograph was added to the church in 2009, commemorating those not found in the other memorials.[10][12]

In the churchyard, at the south side of the church, is a Grade II listed slate headstone with carved angels, dated 1730.[13]