St Peter's Church Heysham

St. Peter's Church sits on a small headland a short walk from St. Patrick's Chapel in Heysham. The Grade I listed building is in regular use as a parish church but it also houses an incredible array of ancient artefacts which illustrate just how long the location has been used as a place of worship. The current church mostly dates from around the 14th and 15th centuries but archaeological evidence suggests that Christians were using the site as far back as the 7th and 8th centuries, or maybe even earlier, making it a significant, ecclesiastical sites in the north west.

The location, right on the coast, would have provided those early Christians with a degree of isolation as well as making the site a landmark from both sea and land. There is evidence in the current church of stonework dating back to pre-Norman conquest, with crude, axe hewn stone, wide mortar jointing and small doorways with single-stone arched headings pointing to Anglo-Saxon construction. These can be found on the western nave and a small section of the north wall.

The location nearby of the even older ruins of St. Patrick's Chapel further highlight how important this site was, although it is not known if the two sites had any relationship or if they developed as individual places of worship.

Like many churches the architecture is a mix of styles demonstrating how the building developed and was modified over time. While St. Peter's managed to retain much of its Anglo-Saxon features following the Norman conquest it does show signs of much later work. The chancel was largely rebuilt between 1340 and 1350 in the Decorated Gothic style and the south aisle was added in the 15th century, possibly incorporating some Perpendicular Gothic elements, and was later rebuilt in the 17th century.

Further alterations took place in the mid-19th century, with the work carried out by renowned local architects Paley and Austin. While the Victorians have a reputation for destroying many historic features, in this case the Saxon architecture that was discovered was preserved and celebrated.

The most fascinating feature that can be found at St. Peter's is the famous “Hogback Stone” which now resides within the church itself, to preserve it from the elements. The stone, which resembles a hog's back in shape, was discovered in the churchyard in the early 19th century and dates back to the time when Vikings were making themselves a nuisance in Britain. The stone itself is made of local millstone grit and is 2m in length and surprisingly slender. It has been carved on all side with intricate figures and animals as well as abstract patterns.

As with many strange ancient objects, the precise meaning of the carvings has been debated by academics and there is no definitive answer to what they might be, although interpretations include; a simple hunting scene, the biblical story of Adam naming the animals, our friend from Sigurd's Cross the Norse hero Sigurd the Dragon-Slayer, or even a depiction of Ragnarök, the end of the world in Norse mythology.

There are also a number of other medieval stones to be found within the churchyard including the lower part of a pre-Norman cross shaft, discovered in the early 19th century, which depicts possible early Christian symbols such as serpents and either the Virgin Mary or Christ; a large grooved stone thought to be a Roman altar; the stone coffin of a former rector in which the remains of a chalice were found and the strangely shaped base to a Saxon sundial.

While it appears on the surface to be a fairly ordinary parish church St. Peter's is anything but!