St Peter & St Paul

In Norman times, Ermington was recorded in the Domesday book as a Royal manor and a much smaller church than the existing one was built on the site. There is some remaining Norman stonework between the porch and the present tower.

In the 1300s the Norman tower was demolished, and a new tower was built where it still is today, but with no spire. The north and south aisles were also added at that time. In the 1400s the Lady Chapel in the south transept was built, as well as the spire, which was noted for being crooked.

The church was completed in the 1500s, by the addition of the north transept, now the choir vestry. In 1856 the tower’s spire was struck by lightning and the spire was subsequently rebuilt. Although the Rector felt this was a chance to build a straight spire, the people of the parish said it had always been crooked and must be meant to be. So, the spire was built back crooked.

During the late Victorian era, the Mildmays of Flete carried out extensive restoration works, completed under the direction John Dando Sedding, a leading Arts & Crafts architect in 1889. He appointed his nephew, Edmund Sedding, to oversee the works. Edmund stayed at the Rectory, hosted by The Rev’d Pinwill, and while he was there he introduced the Pinwill sisters to woodcarving. St Peter & St Paul, Ermington is fortunate to have a body of Violet Pinwill’s work, stretching across her working life. Born in 1874, her first woodcarving in the church dates to when she was a teenager. Her final piece of woodcarving in the church is the Second World War memorial plaque, carved when she was in her seventies.

In 1918 the church was gifted a war memorial clock by the family of Captain Rodney Gransmore, who fell leading his company at the Battle of Loos in 1915. The clock takes the form of a flatbed hour striking movement with a quarter Westminster chime driving the single dial and was restored in 2018 to commemorate the centenary of the Great War.

Here at Ermington we are thrilled you’ve found us, and welcome you to our corner of the mission community. We are a church with a big heart, and invite you to come and see us.