St Peter's Church Hereford
St Peters Church Hereford dates back the early 12th Century and was highly "restored" by the Victorians. Sadly, very little of the original church survives but... there are one or two interesting noteworthy clues which remain. On a side note, the church is worth a quick visit if not only to look at the recent intervention of adding a raised floor, it is a fantastic piece of design and given the church a new lease of life.
The Church was originally built by Walter de Lacy in the late 11th century and although a little early for the Hereford school, one would have expected the families influence to have adorned the building. Stories say that Walter tragically died when inspecting the church upon its completion by falling from the tower battlements!
Reused Carved Sandstone
To the North side of the chancel arch is an stone spiral staircase which one would have gained access to the rood loft. To the underside of one of these steps is a quite ornately carved chamfered step. Both the stone which it was carved from and the dressing is different to the other steps in the flight, so appears to have been reused. The design is of a five pronged leaf with intertwining bands between which are horizontally tied together. There is a slight correlation to the floral pattern found on the Tympanum at Kilpeck and other churches locally, although this is another good example of tied or banded vines?
Chancel Arch Foundations
To the south side of the chancel arch remains a small foundation stone of the original church. As previously noted very little of the original church still stands, but this little corner of stone, although badly worn and damaged gives a little window into the past. It is quite hard to photograph but worth noting as it may have been a foot to an ornate chancel arch, or maybe linked to the other carved stone?
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