NHER 3278 (Building record) - SS Peter and Paul's Church, West Newton

This church has a stately 14th century unbuttressed west tower of carstone with freestone corners. A contemporary image niche sits beside the west window. The pinnacles are 19th century additions. The doors and arcades are 14th century. The body of the church is also largely of carstone, consisting of a nave, chancel, north and south aisles and north chancel extension. The building was in a poor state by the 19th century, until the Prince of Wales bought the Sandringham estate, revitalising the local economy. His patronage led to an almost complete restoration of the church in 1881, when the north aisle was rebuilt, the nave roof renewed and the south aisle given wide, almost domestic mullioned windows. The stained glass dates to this restoration and the years following it, except for a vivid window in the north aisle commemorating the men of the Sandringham Company of the Norfolk Regiment who fell in the disastrous attack at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli in 1915. Inside, beneath the 14th century tower arch sits a slender 15th century octagonal font with a tall and elaborate pinnacled wooden cover, given in 1881. Gifts to the church from royalty and others include the organ, the chancel stalls, the pulpit and the altar reredos. The elaborate lectern was given by Arthur Blomfield, the architect of the 1881 restoration.