The Friends of St Marys Peldon

One Thousand years of history

Peldon Church1884 showing earthquake damage

St. Mary’s church has dominated the skyline of Peldon since the 14th century when the tower was added to this Norman building.

It is difficult to imagine what life would have been like in Norman times, but we know that a church has existed in Peldon since 1085, when the Domesday Book recorded ‘Peltenduna’ as having 1 church with 30 acres: (This church must have been Anglo-Saxon in origin).

The current church dates back to the 11th century, the nave being 12th century, the tower 14th century and the roof and clerestory dating from the 16th century.

St. Mary’s church tower has a noticeable lean. Opinion has it that this came about as a result of the Essex earthquake of 1884 (Peldon being the epicentre), but the ‘leaning tower of Peldon’ is noted before this (‘Mahalah’ Rev. Baring-Gould) and is due to subsidence because of the poor ground on which the church is built. However, the earthquake did cause damage to the battlements.