Church of St Peter and St Paul, Hockley (EHER 35113)

Parish church. Possibly pre 12th century Nave, 13th century Chancel, approximately 1210-1220 north aisle and north arcade. 14th century west tower with top stage of an unknown date, 16th-17th century south porch and in 17th century east wall of Chancel rebuilt.

July 1959. Grade II* listed. A parish church. The nave possibly predates the 12th century and the chancel is certainly 13th century. The north aisle and north arcade were built in around 1210-1220. The west tower is 14th century and the top stage is of an unknown date. The south porch is 16th or 17th century and in the 17th century, the east wall of the chancel was rebuilt. The north vestry is 19th or 20th century and the whole building has restorations from this date. The building is built from mixed rubble, has limestone dressings, and the south porch is of red brick. It has a red plain tiled roof and a shingle spire. The chancel east wall is from rubble with plastered gabled, red brick quoins, and some gault brick repairs. It is traditionally believed to have been built by Canute and Turkill the Dane after victory over Edmund Ironside at the Battle of Ashingdon, but no dateable features are visible. <1> See photos <2>. July 2015. Watching brief. Monitoring of a cable trench across the churchyard showed no historic features except the footing of the perimeter wall, and the rest of the wall is still in-situ. The perimeter wall, which is of red 18th/19th century brickwork, has been cut through prior to the 1874 Ordnance Survey map to install the gateway. Modern drainage works have caused the redeposition of some unarticulated bones around the drain runs and inspection chamber. No grave cuts were observed at the depth of 500mm which is not at all unusual. The slabbed pathway and the tarmac path leading to it are evidently quite recent. A shallow trench was cut and 100mm of Type 1 grey hoggin lain to support the slabs bedded in sand. There was no evidence for an earlier path. <3> NRHE data transfer: St Peter's Church (CofE) [NAT]. <4> Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul stands near the middle of the parish. The walls are of mixed rubble mainly covered with plaster; the south porch is of red brick; the dressings are of limestone; the roofs are tiled. The nave is possibly of the 12th century, but there is little evidence of this except the thickness of the south wall. The chancel was probably rebuilt in the 13th century and in around 1210-1220 the north arcade and north aisle were built. The west tower was added in the 14th century, but the top stage is perhaps of later date. In the 16th or 17th century the south porch was added in the 17th century the east wall of the chancel was rebuilt. The church has been restored in modern times, when the north vestry was added. <5> See also <6>.