Architecturally, St Peter and St Paul is one of Buckinghamshire’s most impressive parish churches. While its structural core dates largely from the late eighteenth century, its appearance today is dominated by the magnificent Gothic Revival work of Sir George Gilbert Scott, whose additions transformed the building into a richly detailed interpretation of late thirteenth-century English Gothic architecture.

Constructed of finely dressed limestone ashlar, the church presents a cruciform composition consisting of a chancel, north chancel aisle, aisled nave, south porch and western tower. Copper roofs cover the nave while the chancel and associated structures are roofed in slate, creating a subtle distinction between the Georgian and Victorian phases of the building.

The eastern end is among the most elaborate features of the church. Scott’s three-bay chancel is crowned by an extraordinary five-light east window filled with intricate Geometrical tracery. A great circle containing seven sexfoils dominates the composition, while cinquefoils, trefoils and Y-tracery combine to create a complex and highly decorative design. Beneath the window, carved panels display Christian symbolism including the Alpha and Omega, the Instruments of the Passion, the Chi-Rho monogram and the arms of St Peter and St Paul.

The south porch serves as a ceremonial entrance and showcases some of Scott’s finest detailing. The doorway is framed by three orders of shafts beneath a deeply moulded arch, while ornamental wrought-iron gates enhance its visual richness. Above the entrance stand statues of St Peter and St Paul set within cusped niches, reinforcing the church’s dedication.

The seven-bay nave retains much of the eighteenth-century structure but was visually transformed by Victorian alterations. Upper tiers of paired lancets sit above larger windows with cinquefoiled tracery, while buttresses, parapets and crocketed pinnacles introduce a strong vertical emphasis. Extensive foliage carving, decorative bosses and carefully moulded stonework demonstrate the high quality of Victorian craftsmanship throughout the exterior.

The western tower remains one of the most prominent landmarks in Buckingham. Rising through three stages, it features paired lancet openings, cast-iron clock faces, traceried bell-chamber windows and a battlemented parapet with crocketed pinnacles. Above this rises a recessed octagonal stone spire crowned by a ball finial and weather vane. Over the west doorway a convex shield displays the Swan of Buckingham, linking the church to the town’s civic identity.

Internally, the church is equally impressive. The chancel contains a finely executed piscina and a three-seat sedilia, both designed in authentic medieval forms. Above rises a timber lierne vault decorated with twentieth-century polychromy, its ribs springing from elegant wall shafts and creating a richly articulated sacred space.

The nave is distinguished by its alternating arcades of black fossiliferous marble and limestone piers. These support double keel-moulded arches and an ingenious timber quadripartite vault installed beneath the original eighteenth-century roof structure. The design allowed Scott to achieve a medieval appearance without removing the earlier Georgian framework, resulting in a remarkable fusion of two architectural periods.

Among the church’s notable furnishings are the oak reredos of 1904 by John Oldrid Scott, carved pulpit, ornate lectern, medieval pew ends reused in the Lady Chapel, and a magnificent brass chandelier gifted in 1705 by the antiquary Browne Willis. The stained glass by Clayton and Bell, particularly the great east window of 1877 depicting the Te Deum, adds colour and theological richness to the interior.

The church’s architectural significance lies in its successful combination of Georgian engineering and Victorian Gothic Revival artistry. Few English parish churches so effectively merge two distinct architectural eras into a single harmonious composition, making St Peter and St Paul one of the most important ecclesiastical buildings in Buckinghamshire.

Church of St Peter and St Paul

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