Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Belton, England

On the Belton House grounds is the local parish church dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. The church dates back to the time of the Domesday Book (William the Conqueror's survey of England in the mid 1080s). The church has been rebuilt and restored several times, so it shows influences from the Norman period all the way through the Victorian era.

St. Peter and St. Paul Church, Belton

The octagonal baptismal font dates back to the Norman period (1200s).

Norman font

The nave of the church has been restored a few times, the last being the Victorian work, including the addition of pews, by the third Earl Brownlow. The pulpit and communion rails are from the Jacobean period.

Nave

Main altar

The most striking thing in the church is the wide variety of memorials, mostly to the Brownlow and Cust families, who were the owners of Belton House.

William Brownlow (1699-1726) Memorial

Dame Alice Brownlow (1659-1721) Memorial

Sir John Brownlow (1690-1754)

Old Sir John Brownlow and his wife Alice

Detail of John and Alice

Richard Brownlow (1553-1638)

Richard is the Brownlow who built the family fortune as a prominent Elizabethan-era lawyer.

John Cust (1779-1853), with his first wife Sophia in the back

Henry John Cockayne Cust (1816-1917)

Harry Cust, as he was known, would have been the fourth earl of Belton if he hadn't died before his cousin. His wife Nina carved this tomb as well as a bust of Harry in the main house.

The church is very much a family tomb as it is the local parish.