St Nicholas' Church
St Mary’s and St Nicholas’ Churches are two very different, beautiful churches. This parish encompasses the villages of Shackleford and Peper Harow and was formed in 1985 by the merger of the two ecclesiastical parishes of St Mary’s Shackleford and St Nicholas’ Peper Harow.
Both churches are of great historical and architectural interest and are an integral and beautiful feature of the landscape of our villages. The churches are a rich and living inheritance which we have a responsibility to preserve and pass on to future generations if possible.
St Mary’s in Shackleford was built in 1867 and is the larger of the churches, often used for concerts, presentations and talks. Services are held here for St Mary’s Patronal Festival, Remembrance, Messy Church, Christmas and Easter.
Although Peper Harow is mentioned as Pipereherge in the Domesday Book (1086) there is no mention of a church. A simple church structure may well have existed in 1066. The oldest part of the church is the South Door which is believed to be Norman (1066 – end of 12th Century). No Norman windows survived but the oldest window is an ogee-shaped window in the South wall dated from around 1325. The first recorded Rector is Laurence de la Ryde in 1304. The church has been dedicated to St Nicholas since at least the 15th Century when it was mentioned in the Will of Joan Adderley who died in 1487 and who is buried there. Apart from the Tower, there were few alterations between 1600 and 1830. In 1801 the population of Peper Harow was only 111. Substantial building works were undertaken by George, 4th Viscount Middleton (1745-1836) and again, between 1830 and 1850 further substantial changes were made, designed by Augustus Pugin (1812-1852). The very beautiful chancel arch dates from this period. A severe fire on Christmas Eve 2007 largely destroyed the Nave and North Aisle roofs and badly damaged the internal surfaces. The damage created the opportunity to upgrade the building with sustainable features for flexible and community uses.