It is believed that the site of St. Peter’s has been used for worship since the 7th century. Whilst nothing remains of the Saxon building and few records exist before the 15th century, ancient churchyards were typically circular, as was St. Peter’s.
The church was the heart of Brackley and in 1066 it sat opposite an area of grass adorned with a pond, which was fed by the nearby Golden Spring. Today the park at the foot of Church Lane, opposite the church, is a reminder of what the village green may have looked like nearly 1000 years ago.
The Normans built the church around 1100. As Brackley’s importance and wealth increased during the 13th century most of the Norman chancel was removed, the nave lengthened, a new chancel built and the west tower was added. The oldest remaining parts include the Norman arch above the south door and the walls at the east end of the nave.
The mouldings of the chancel arch and the little arches are good examples of this Early English style. Above the doorway the figures of St. Peter and St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln may be seen.
There are also the faces of a man and a dog in the carved leaves, surrounding the west door, at the base of the tower. It is thought that these relate to the legend of a priest who quarreled with the local lord and was subsequently buried alive. The story claims that his faithful dog jumped into the grave with him just before it was filled in. The grave itself can be found in the old churchyard near the northwest corner of the church. The stone is shaped in the figure of a man, a most unusually ornate stone for that period, suggesting a dramatic event.
The roof of the church was raised during the sixteenth century (the original corbels – roof supports – which held the wooden roof can be seen below the high level windows in the nave). Not much was done to the church then for over 200 years and in 1837 things had become very run down with a report that no repairs of any sort had been carried out for 20 years. One window was so rotten it required a new stone mullion (at a cost of £10!). Then came Francis Thicknesse, (1868-1879) who extended the churchyard, followed by Rev. Brooke de Malpas Egerton (1879-1894). In 1885 the latter launched a scheme, which involved the remodeling, and extension of the chancel, the installation of new choir stalls and the building of the vestry in the northeast corner. There is a foundation stone in the east wall of the chancel visible from outside, dated 1885. Two stained glass windows by O’Connor (1868-1869) can be seen at the east end of the north aisle.
In 1901 stained glass windows by Kempe and by a combination of Kempe and his assistant Tower were installed in the Lady Chapel. The Victorian organ was relocated to its present location in the late 1970s. The roof and battlements to the tower were replaced in the 1980s but the most dramatic developments at St. Peter’s since the fourteenth century were opened in 1998. The church extension, built on land to the south of the church and joining via a porch area to the old Norman south door, was added to provide a church hall, kitchen and modern toilet facilities for the growing parish.
