Discover 'church in the fields'

PEOPLE are being invited to come and discover a village church where people have worshipped for more than 760 years.

St Peter’s Church is a small church set in beautiful countryside; in fact it was known at one time as 'the church in the fields'.

This fine old Cotswold church has stood on Wapley hill since 1215.

The side chapel holds the unique tomb of Sir John Codrington, who was King Henry V’s standard bearer at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Outside it overlooks the village dwellings, Wapley Woods and part of Yate.

The parish council maintains the graveyard; their aim is to support St Peter’s Church and encourage the natural features, the birds, the trees, and the flowers in all seasons.

At this moment there is a splendid display of primroses in the graveyard.

The spectacular scene from Wapley Hill provides visitors with a view of the Severn Valley and, on a clear day, the Welsh Hills.

St Peter’s Church is a very suitable place to mark all aspects of life, baptisms where children are welcomed and valued, for weddings where the setting is perfect for photographs and the right size for families; and funerals can be held here with a quiet dignified reflective atmosphere.

St Peter’s Church has a traditional 1662 service evening prayer or communion on alternate Sundays, at 6.30pm in the summer and 4pm in the winter, except on the fifth Sunday of the month.

St Peter’s Church has a small but faithful, caring congregation, blessed with members who clean and prepare for the services each week.

We are grateful to the organists, bell ringers and flower arrangers, not forgetting the clergy.

We are holding a social fund-raising event at Westerleigh Village Hall on May 1, from 11.30am to 3pm.