St Peter's Church, Ruddington

St Peter’s Church stands in the village of Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, on ground once shared with a vanished chapel. The present building replaced an older church after the nearby St Mary’s chapel at Flawford was pulled down in 1773. Only the tower and chancel arches survive from the 15th-century fabric, kept when the rest was rebuilt in 1824. In 1887 the nave and aisles were rebuilt again, this time by Bell and Roper of Manchester, and the new church was consecrated the following year. The font is believed to have come from the medieval church at Flawford before it disappeared. The church is worth the journey for its layers of history and fine craftsmanship. The 1824 rebuilding cost £1,100, and the 1887 work reached £12,000, sums that show the importance placed on the building. The tower clock was installed in 1888 by G. & F. Cope of Nottingham, still keeping time for the village. The three-manual organ, built in 1908 by Brindley & Foster of Sheffield, adds musical distinction. The Bishop of Southwell, Rt Revd George Ridding, consecrated the church in 1888, marking the completion of the latest phase. Inside, the visitor finds a spacious nave with aisles and a high chancel arch framed by the old tower. The 1908 organ stands on the north side, its pipes rising above the choir stalls. The font, brought from Flawford, sits near the entrance, and the 1888 clock face looks down from the tower above the west door. The churchyard, once enlarged with stone from the lost Flawford chapel, holds gravestones that tell Ruddington’s story. The building’s stonework and furnishings speak quietly of the craftsmen who shaped it across two centuries.