St Peter
Tiverton, Devon
There was probably a church on this hilltop overlooking the River Exe in late Saxon times, but the first stone church was erected shortly after the Norman Conquest and consecrated in 1073.
St Peter’s has nestled in the shelter of Uplowman Hill since the 15th century, on the site of an earlier church built by Walter Stapylton, bishop of Exeter, 1308-27. The latter was at the eastern end of Uplowman Court. There is some doubt if it was more a chapel called Beauchapel (or if this refers to the Chapel at Whitnage), but all traces of it disappeared some centuries ago.
The present church was built by the Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509), Countess of Richmond and mother of Henry VII, who resided occasionally at the village of Sampford Peverell.
The south aisle was lengthened by the addition of a small chapel or chantry, founded by one of the Courtenay family, whose initials PC can be seen over a niche between the choir and south aisle.
Within the niche are the badges of the Courtenay (Earls Of Devon) and Bohun families whilst the capitals of the piers bear the shields of the families of Raleigh and Bonville.
Three of the windows are stained, one being a memorial to the Revd S Pidsley, a former rector, and another to the late Commissioner Bere.