Saint Peter's, Clayworth

 Much of this beautiful church  dates back to around 1150 but there  are foundations  which date from the Saxon period.  It has a fine crenellated tower with many Norman features and a very early example of decorative  plasterwork.  It is a Grade 1 listed building and is claimed to be one of the finest village churches in the country. It is situated in Clayworth, a village in Nottinghamshire which sits alongside the historic  Chesterfield  Canal.

Although an ancient church, the most notable  feature of St Peter's is, arguably, an artwork  dating from as recently  as the early 20th century. It is an amazing mural by Phoebe Anna Traquair,  one of the most prominent  female artists  of the Arts and Crafts movement, who was responsible for numerous mural works in Edinburgh and other Scottish locations.  The murals here are the largest example of only two mural works by her outside of Scotland, which was her home for many years (although  born in Dublin). Her mural style, heavily  influenced  by (Pre-Raphaelite) Rossetti, reflects the manuscript  illustrations and embroidery for which she was also well known. The work is said to be the largest artwork in the English East Midlands and was commissioned  by Lady D'Arcy Godolhin Osborne to commemorate the safe return of her son from the Boer War. The murals  cover the entire  walls of the nave, and extend  further into the church, and, in the spirit of the Arts and Crafts movement, contain large amounts  of gilding. It is said that Lady Osbourne's  younger children  featured  as models for some of the panels  which are essentially depictions of religious events. The images of the angelic choir, playing trumpets, between the arches of the arcade, feature images of the actual  church choir in 1905.

Beyond the murals, the church  has a fantastic  carved rood  screen, a highly decorative ceiling and some important tombs and brasses including one dedicated to a former rector, John Tonstall (died 1630) and one to Judge Humphrey Fitzwilliam (died 1556). This tomb is the earliest  surviving  example of decorative  plasterwork in the UK. There is also a lot of excellent stained glass (mainly 19th-century but some much earlier).  The church was restored in 1875 by Oldrid Scott (son of Charles Gilbert Scott), including an increase in the pitch of the chancel roof.