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St. Peter's Church in Hanwell comprises chancel, nave, north and south aisles, south porch, and western tower. It was almost entirely rebuilt early in the 14th century, and has many of the characteristic features of the Decorated style as practised by the Oxfordshire masons. The only remaining features earlier than 1300 appear to be the font, which is ornamented with intersecting arcading of c. 1200, the north and south doorways (both 13th-century), the tracery of the east window of the south aisle (late-13th-century, perhaps reset), and the northern portion of the east wall of the same aisle. The disparity between the sizes of the north and south aisles may be due to the influence of the plan of the former church, and differences between the tracery of their windows suggest that the northern (and narrower) aisle may be slightly later in date. Both north and south nave arcades are, however, of identical design, and form part of a single build with the tower, which stands on arches within the west end of the nave. As the west wall of the tower is also of one build with the west walls of the two aisles, it is clear that the rebuilding of the church, although possibly spread over a period of years, formed part of a single architectural scheme.

The principal feature of the interior is the sculptured decoration of the nave arcades, whose capitals are ornamented with the busts of men and women with linked arms. On the north side the capitals have a battlemented cresting, and on the south they are surmounted by standing figures of minstrels playing musical instruments. Similar carvings are found at Adderbury, Bloxham, and Drayton. At Hanwell the full scheme of decoration was never completed, for the capitals beneath the tower remain in a rough state ready for the carver. The external cornices of the north and south walls of the chancel are also elaborately decorated with grotesque sculpture, similar to that at Brailes (Warws.), Alkerton, Adderbury, and Bloxham. 

In the late 14th or early 15th century the clerestory was added and a new roof was constructed. The weather-mould of the earlier roof can be seen above the chancel-arch and on the east wall of the tower. Buckler's drawing of 1824 shows the new roof, of which the main timbers still remain. Late in the 15th or early in the 16th century 3 flat-headed mullioned windows were inserted in the north wall of the north aisle. In the south-west angle of the south aisle there is a medieval fire-place: its chimney is decorated with crocketed pinnacles and is similar to one at Horley.

In 1686 altar rails were given by William Spencer and the rector George Ashwell wainscoted the chancel. In the 18th century the fabric was maintained in good order: in 1775 the archdeacon found it necessary to order only minor repairs, including the repaving of the floor. In 1763 when the leads of the nave were stripped off on the north side by a violent wind, the estimated cost of repair was £310 and it was 1767 before the money was raised. The work was then begun and completed in the same year. The new paving of the church with Hornton stone was begun in 1773 and completed in 1774. The porch was also paved and the way from the parsonage gate to the north church door. The church was re-pewed at the same time, a new gallery was erected as well as the 'long seat' in the south aisle for farmers' men and servants. During the paving of the church the pulpit, reading desk, parsonage pews, and clerk's seat were removed to new positions for the 'greater convenience of the whole congregation'. In 1774 the church clock, which has no face, was repaired and placed in a specially made recess. The proportions of the chancel were impaired in 1776 when a vault was made beneath it for the Cope family. The floor was raised so high that the seats of the sedilia were level with the floor and 5 steps had to be built between the sanctuary and the nave. Two windows had already been blocked by large memorials to the Copes. In the 19th century the floor was restored to its former level, but the church largely escaped 19th-century restoration: its external appearance still closely resembles Buckler's drawings of 1823 and 1824

New heating apparatus was installed in 1880, and in 1949 and 1951 faculties were granted for installing electric lighting and heating in the chancel. A faculty for an organ was obtained in 1923. The stone pulpit is dated 1940.

The church once had a series of wall paintings extending the whole breadth of the chancel. These were uncovered in 1841 when the whitewash was removed, but they could not be preserved. 

The heraldic glass described by Rawlinson  has been destroyed, but a few fragments of medieval glass survive in the west window.

The Creed and the Lord's Prayer are painted on the wall in the south aisle and the Commandments on boards in the north aisle.

In the south aisle there is the recumbent effigy of a woman, once part of a mid-14th-century tomb; above the altar in the north aisle there is a fragment of 14th-century sculpture which probably came from the side of this tomb: it consists of 5 figures of weepers in niches. In the chancel is a large alabaster monument with figures of Sir Anthony Cope (d. 1614) and his wife. It is flanked by Corinthian columns supporting obelisks. On the floor are two brasses of 1662 and 1671 to the infant children of Sir Anthony (d. 1675); on the south wall are memorials to Jonathan Cope (d. 1765) and his wife Mary (d. 1755), and to Sir Charles Cope and his son (both d. 1781). A cartouche in the south aisle commemorates Dorothea (d. 1656/7), wife of Walter Harris, and there are memorials to a rector and a curate, George Ashwell (d. 1694), and Thomas Gill (d. 1777). A memorial slab, now in the south aisle, to another rector, Fitzherbert Potter (d. 1749), was part of a tomb accidentally destroyed in 1952. In the north aisle 3 funeral helms of the Cope family are preserved.

The church possesses a fine Elizabethan chalice and paten cover, which is engraved 1574. This may have been the gift of Charles Spencer, who lent a silver flagon, chalice, and paten for the use of the parishioners, intimating that he might later make it a gift. 

There is a ring of 5 bells, all cast in 1789 and 1790. 

The registers, which date from 1586, are complete except for a gap for the Civil War period

Historical information about St. Peter's Church is provided by 'Parishes: Hanwell', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 9, Bloxham Hundred, ed. Mary D Lobel and Alan Crossley (London, 1969), pp. 112-123. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol9/pp112-123 [accessed 31 January 2023].

St. Peter's Church is a Grade I listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST PETER, Hanwell - 1216364 | Historic England

For more information about St. Peter's Church see Parishes: Hanwell | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk).