Monument record SKT 015 - Church of St Peter and St Mary (& St Paul) (Med)

St Peter & Paul. Listed in 1086 in Domesday Book. Was mother church of huge vill of Thorney (including Stowmarket, Stowupland, Newton, Gipping and Dagworth). Following demolition of St Mary's (SKT Misc) about 1546, St Peter and Paul took over the dedication and dropped St Paul. Church. "Externally all Decorated, except for porches, the tower, and the clerestory. W tower, called `new' in a will of 1453... S arcade was remodelled Perpendicular... (S1).
Spire blown down in Great Storm of early C18 (?1704), it had only been rebuilt in 1674 (S3).
1875: E window destroyed in gun-cotton factory explosion (S4).
January 1990: Watching brief on trench & soakaways to N of church, see (S2). The medieval belfry in the tower has been tree-ring dated to c.1363 and must be contemporary with the tower, which has windows with Decorated leaf-and- stem tracery. The original timber and lead spire was rebuilt in 1674.(Tree- ring date, for timber re-used as joists of c.1672/3). This broke off in the great storm of November 1703 (event recorded in Daniel Defoe's `The Storm', 1704). Rebuilt in 1712 (tree-ring date of 1712 for spire ribs and struts)(S5).
Scarfe records this as a probable Domesday Minster (S6)

2005: A Ground Penetrating radar survey was undertaken at St Peter and St Marys Church identifiying one large, strong anomalous area which is suggestive of a substantial underground arch with associated structural remains. One smaller weaker anomaly also exists which may pertain to a vault style feature (S7).