St Peter's Church, Cound

St Peter’s Church stands in the grounds of Cound Hall in the quiet village of Cound, Shropshire. It is an active Anglican parish church built mainly of red and yellow sandstone, with a tiled roof. The oldest part is the 13th-century nave, and the west tower was added in the 15th century. In the 19th century the north aisle and chancel were built by the Shrewsbury architect S. Pountney Smith. The church is a Grade I listed building and belongs to the diocese of Hereford. The church is dedicated to Saint Peter through its medieval link with Shrewsbury Abbey. Inside, a Norman font carved with rosettes and foliage dates from the 12th century. The pulpit is dated 1633, and the tower screen carries painted texts of the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments. The east window of the chancel contains glass of 1891 by Kempe, and the organ was built in the 1890s by Henry Fincham. Visitors find a four-bay nave with circular piers, a three-bay south aisle with a porch, and a four-bay chancel raised above the nave. The west tower has diagonal buttresses, a clock face, gargoyles and a battlemented parapet with pinnacles. In the churchyard are Grade II listed monuments including chest tombs to Thomas Phipps, John Dodson and Sir John Colt, an 18th-century dovecote with nesting boxes, and an 18th-century or earlier sandstone cross base.