St Peter and St Paul's Church, Preston Deanery

St Peter and St Paul’s Church stands in the quiet hamlet of Preston Deanery, near Hackleton in Northamptonshire. It is a small redundant Anglican church, built mainly of limestone and ironstone with a slate roof. The building consists of a nave, chancel and west tower, all dating back to the 12th century. The chancel was extended in the 13th century and the tower was heightened and embellished with battlements. After falling into ruin during the 16th century, the church was partly demolished and its materials sold. The church is notable for its surviving Norman chancel arch, which still shows traces of medieval carvings. These include zigzag patterns, lozenge shapes and images of birds and a snake, once thought to be Viking work but now dated to the late 11th or early 12th century. The interior also contains a 1710 bell by Henry Penn, a simple polygonal font and several memorials and hatchments. The church was restored several times, most recently in 1976, and is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. Visitors find a modest but atmospheric interior with a Norman arch, a single bell in the tower and a small collection of historic fittings. The chancel holds a sedilia, piscina and aumbry, while the nave has Tudor-arched doorways and mullioned windows. The exterior walls show blocked doorways, high-level windows and buttresses added over the centuries. The churchyard is peaceful, and the building’s plain stonework and slate roof give it a quiet dignity.