Croft-on-Tees

St Peter's

NZ 289 098

The original date for a church in Croft is uncertain but the present church was probably started around the twelfth century. There are fragments of Anglo-Saxon stonework within the church and some tooling claimed to be of Roman origin so it is quite possible a church stood here much earlier. To the side of the south door is a carving of a figure with one hand over its head and the other across its body pointing towards the groin area. The guide book suggests it is a fertility god of Romano-British origin; it fits the bill for a sheela-na-gig and is recorded below as such. There are signs that the area around the navel has been damaged and may have been done by the Victorian users of the church. There is also a fine example of a sedilia with some excellent carvings around it on the south wall of the chancel. This is shown below, you can also see the edge of a Piscina to its left.

Clicking on the map reference at the top of the page will take you to a map of the area