The earliest documentary reference is of 1200, when the church belonged to Gloucester Abbey. The incumbents were called rectors from the early 14th century, and the living has remained a rectory.
The church of ST. PETER comprises nave, chancel, west tower, and south porch. The north and south doorways, which probably date from the late 11th century, are the earliest substantial part of the fabric; each has a bold roll-moulding on the angle of the arch and single shafts with scalloped capitals. The tympanum of the blocked north doorway is roughly scored with intersecting diagonal lines. A stone fragment with Norman decoration is set internally in the north wall of the chancel. The consecration of the high altar at Hinton in 1315 suggests a rebuilding of the church at that time, and the chancel arch and two nave windows may date from the 14th century. Extensive rebuilding in the 15th or early 16th century included the 3-stage embattled and pinnacled tower. All three nave walls are embattled, and both tower and nave have gargoyles. Square-headed Perpendicular windows were inserted on each side of the nave near the east end.
For many years the church had no chancel. Despite a tradition of its destruction by fire before the Reformation, the chancel survived in 1572. It had apparently been destroyed, however, by c. 1700 when the church was described as consisting of 'one entire aisle'. Evidence of a fire is said to have been found. Before the rebuilding of the chancel the chancel arch was blocked and contained a window possibly added in the 1860's. A new Perpendicular chancel was built in 1895 to designs by J. D. Sedding; the work cost c. £600 of which £150 was contributed by Laslett's trustees.
The church was restored and re-roofed in the 1860's; the earlier roof had a low pitch. The south porch and the windows of the nave were apparently renewed at the time. The 15th-century font, removed from the church before the late 19th century and for a time in the garden of the manor-house, was later moved to Bretforton Manor and returned to the church in 1911. A 13th-century piscina in the south wall of the nave, was perhaps used by the chantry priest; an aumbry in the opposite wall was probably made after the destruction of the chancel when the altar was at the east end of the nave. The rood staircase survives on the south side of the chancel arch and the slots for the rood screen are visible on the north side of the arch. In the north wall of the chancel, the tombstone of William of Halford (d. c. 1490), Abbot of Bordesley (Worcs.), is incised with the figure of the abbot bearing a pastoral staff under a canopy. The stone was found in 1740. Other medieval tombstones in the church were mentioned c. 1700; two of them were for farmers of the manor. The nave of the church is largely paved with tombstones, said to have been removed from the churchyard by a rector to make a pathway in the village. Fragments of medieval tiles kept in the church may have come from the medieval chancel.
The church had 4 bells, re-cast as 5 in 1705 at the expense of David Warren; in 1931 three lighter bells were added. The village has given its name to a method of change-ringing known as Hinton Surprise Major. The plate dates from the 1860's. The registers begin in 1735. The church has received several grants from Laslett's charity trustees, the latest in 1966 for heating.
The headline co-ordinates will take you to an inscription on the Church Wall (To the Glory of God and In Blessed Memory of S.Peter A&M) and 6 numbers which we will call A, B, C, D, E and F.
The cache can then be found using the following formula:
N 52 03.(C+F) D (D-A) W 001 5 (E-C). C B (E-F)
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