St Peter's Church, Chester
Encyclopedia
St Peter's Church, Chester is in Eastgate Street in the centre of the city of Chester
, Cheshire
, England, immediately to the north of Chester Cross
. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican
parish church
in the diocese of Chester
, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester. Its benefice
is united with that of St John's, Chester
.
Praetorium
and some of its fabric dates from that time. A church is said to have been built on this site by Ethelfleda
in 907. The present church dates from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, with modifications in the following three centuries. Formerly the tower had a spire which was removed and rebuilt in the 16th century, taken down in the 17th century, then rebuilt and finally removed "having been much injured by lightning" about 1780. In 1849–50 the church was repaired by James Harrison
, and 1886 it was restored
by John Douglas
, which included the addition of a pyramidal spire.
and is approximately square in plan. Its floor is at the level of the adjacent Watergate Row and the church is entered by a flight of seven stone steps on the south face. At the west end there is an embraced tower which rises one stage above the roof, with a clock and a bell opening of two lights. The top is crenellated
, it has crocket
ed pinnacle
s and a pyramidal slate
spire.
and chancel
with four aisle
s. The west end is attached to and extends behind the backs of the adjacent buildings. Over the outer aisles and at the west end are galleries. The baptistry lies below the tower. On the northeast pier
is a niche
which formerly contained a statue of the Virgin and Child, and surrounding it is the best preserved medieval
wall painting in Cheshire. On the south wall under the gallery are three corbel
s with medieval carvings of an angel, a woman and an old man. The marble
font
is dated 1662. In the south aisle attached to a pier is a 15th century brass
thought to depict a lawyer, and elsewhere in the church are memorials from the 17th century, and two memorial boards by the Randle Holme
family. The stained glass in the east window dates from 1863 and is by Heaton, Butler and Bayne
. Glass in a window on the southeast of the church is by Clayton and Bell
, and there is a west window by Trena Cox. The organ has two manuals
and was built by Whiteley. The ring
is of six bells. Five of these which are dated 1709 are by Rudhall of Gloucester
and the other, dated 1921, is by John Taylor and Company. The parish register
s date from 1559 and the churchwarden
s' accounts from 1626, although the volume dating from 1686 to 1803 has been lost.
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England, immediately to the north of Chester Cross
Chester Cross (junction)
Chester Cross is a junction of streets at the centre of the city of Chester, Cheshire, England .The streets meeting at the junction are Watergate Street, Eastgate Street, Bridge Street and Northgate Street. The junction consists of a staggered crossroads, with Watergate Street in continuity with...
. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the diocese of Chester
Diocese of Chester
The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York based in Chester, covering the county of Cheshire in its pre-1974 boundaries...
, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester. Its benefice
Benefice
A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...
is united with that of St John's, Chester
St John the Baptist's Church, Chester
St John the Baptist's Church, Chester is in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It lies outside the city walls on a cliff above the north bank of the River Dee. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese...
.
History
The church stands on the site of part of the RomanRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
Praetorium
Praetorium
- Etemology :The praetorium, also spelled prœtorium or pretorium, was originally used to identify the general’s tent within a Roman Castra, Castellum, or encampment. The word originates from the name of the chief Roman magistrate, known as Praetor...
and some of its fabric dates from that time. A church is said to have been built on this site by Ethelfleda
Ethelfleda
Æthelflæd , was the eldest daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and Ealhswith, wife of Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia, and after his death, ruler of Mercia...
in 907. The present church dates from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, with modifications in the following three centuries. Formerly the tower had a spire which was removed and rebuilt in the 16th century, taken down in the 17th century, then rebuilt and finally removed "having been much injured by lightning" about 1780. In 1849–50 the church was repaired by James Harrison
James Harrison (architect)
James Harrison was an English architect who worked mainly in Chester, Cheshire. His works were mainly on churches — building new churches, rebuilding old churches, and making amendments and alterations to existing churches....
, and 1886 it was restored
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
by John Douglas
John Douglas (architect)
John Douglas was an English architect who designed about 500 buildings in Cheshire, North Wales, and northwest England, in particular in the estate of Eaton Hall. He was trained in Lancaster and practised throughout his career from an office in Chester, Cheshire...
, which included the addition of a pyramidal spire.
Exterior
The church is built of red sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
and is approximately square in plan. Its floor is at the level of the adjacent Watergate Row and the church is entered by a flight of seven stone steps on the south face. At the west end there is an embraced tower which rises one stage above the roof, with a clock and a bell opening of two lights. The top is crenellated
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
, it has crocket
Crocket
A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. It is in the form of a stylised carving of curled leaves, buds or flowers which is used at regular intervals to decorate the sloping edges of spires, finials, pinnacles, and wimpergs....
ed pinnacle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...
s and a pyramidal slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
spire.
Interior
Inside the church is a continuous naveNave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
with four aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
s. The west end is attached to and extends behind the backs of the adjacent buildings. Over the outer aisles and at the west end are galleries. The baptistry lies below the tower. On the northeast pier
Pier (architecture)
In architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...
is a niche
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
which formerly contained a statue of the Virgin and Child, and surrounding it is the best preserved medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
wall painting in Cheshire. On the south wall under the gallery are three corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s with medieval carvings of an angel, a woman and an old man. The marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
is dated 1662. In the south aisle attached to a pier is a 15th century brass
Monumental brass
Monumental brass is a species of engraved sepulchral memorial which in the early part of the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood...
thought to depict a lawyer, and elsewhere in the church are memorials from the 17th century, and two memorial boards by the Randle Holme
Randle Holme
Randle Holme was a name shared by members of four successive generations of a family who lived in Chester, Cheshire, England from the late years of the 16th century to the early years of the 18th century. They were all herald painters and genealogists and were members of the Stationers' Company of...
family. The stained glass in the east window dates from 1863 and is by Heaton, Butler and Bayne
Heaton, Butler and Bayne
Heaton, Butler and Bayne is the name of an English firm who produced stained glass windows from 1855 onwards.-History:Clement Heaton originally founded his own stained glass firm in 1852, joined by James Butler in 1855. Between 1859-61 they worked alongside Clayton and Bell and were joined by...
. Glass in a window on the southeast of the church is by Clayton and Bell
Clayton and Bell
Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient workshops of English stained glass during the latter half of the 19th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton and Alfred Bell . The company was founded in 1855 and continued until 1993...
, and there is a west window by Trena Cox. The organ has two manuals
Manual (music)
A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. The term "manual" is used with regard to any hand keyboard on these instruments to distinguish it from the pedalboard, which is a keyboard that the organist plays...
and was built by Whiteley. The ring
Ring of bells
"Ring of bells" is a term most often applied to a set of bells hung in the English style, typically for change ringing...
is of six bells. Five of these which are dated 1709 are by Rudhall of Gloucester
Rudhall of Gloucester
Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 produced over 5,000 bells. The business was founded by Abraham Rudhall and the earliest ring of bells he cast was for St Nicholas' Church, Oddington in 1684. He came to be...
and the other, dated 1921, is by John Taylor and Company. The parish register
Parish register
A parish register is a handwritten volume, normally kept in a parish church or deposited within a county record office or alternative archive repository, in which details of baptisms, marriages and burials are recorded.-History:...
s date from 1559 and the churchwarden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
s' accounts from 1626, although the volume dating from 1686 to 1803 has been lost.
See also
- List of church restorations, amendments and furniture by John Douglas
- List of works by Thomas Harrison