St Peter's Church

Welcome to St. Peter's Church, which stands upon a slight incline at the heart of its small but attractive village, along the road from Leiston to Middleton, Westleton, Yoxford and Blythburgh. A church in Theberton is mentioned in the Domesday Book and referred to in a Charter in the British Museum. But parts of this present interesting and beautiful building date back to the time of the Normans, and the lower part of the tower, together with the nave and part of the chancel, formed the original Norman church. About 1300, the chancel was extended eastwards and an octagonal belfry was added to the Norman round tower. During the 15th Century, the south aisle and porch were added and several new windows were then inserted into the nave and chancel. The church underwent restoration in 1846, when the south aisle was rebuilt by the Rev. Charles Montagu Doughty of Theberton Hall. The noted church architect for this work was L.N. Cottingham, who was a native of Suffolk (1787-1847). In 1866 a platform at the west end of the church was replaced by a gallery supported by wooden arches.

The church is built of flint and stone and consists of a round western tower with an octagonal belfry, nave, south aisle, south porch, north vestry and chancel. The approximate internal dimensions of the building are:-

               Nave                     Length - 55ft                     Breadth - 24ft 3in

               Chancel               Length - 44ft 3in              Breadth - 20ft 3in

               S. Aisle                 Length - 33ft                     Breadth – 13ft 6in

               Porch                   East/West - 10ft               North/South - 12ft

Diameter of Tower - 11ft 6in

The source text of these pages are primarily taken from the 8th Edition of the Guide to St Peter’s Theberton  (2006) which was been edited by former Churchwardens Dr B.W. Powell & Mr E. Pehkonen. The 7th Edition (1987) of the Guide was based on the 6th Edition (1982) by Roy Tricker who was advised by the Rev. C. Ralph during whose Ministry the Church Guide was first written.

The 8^th edition of the Guide is available in the church. The text on these pages has been updated to cover the period 2006 – 2008.

Readers wishing to delve further into Theberton Church History can consult:

Chronicles of Theberton by H.M. Doughty. (McMillan & Co. Ltd. 1910)
East Anglian Round Towers and their Churches by W.J. Goode. (Friends of the Round Tower Church Society 1982).