St Peter's Church, Northampton 1.33

St Peter's Church is a redundant Anglican church in Marefair, Northampton, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is considered to be "the most outstanding Norman church in the county" (Northamptonshire), and "its capital sculpture is one of the highlights of the Romanesque in England". Alec Clifton-Taylor includes the church in his list of 'best' English parish churches.Early historyThe church stands on a site between a former Anglo-Saxon palace and Northampton Castle. Two previous churches have been on the site, one built in wood, the other in stone. The present church was probably built between 1130 and 1140 by Simon de Senlis II. The west tower had fallen by 1607 and was rebuilt later in that century, moving it 12ft to the east. In the 1850s the church was restored by George Gilbert Scott. This included re-roofing the church, rebuilding the east end and lowering the floor of the nave by 1ft. Scott also reconstructed the clerestory but left the Norman carvings untouched. In 1878–79 his son, John Oldrid Scott carried out a scheme of decoration using stencils on the interior of the east wall.