St Peter's Church, Rock Ferry

St Peter's Church, Rock Ferry
St Peter's Church, Rock Ferry, from the southwest
St Peter's Church, Rock Ferry Location in Merseyside
Coordinates: 53°22′10″N 3°00′07″W / 53.3694°N 3.0020°W
OS grid reference	SJ 334 863
Location	St Peter's Road, Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, Wirral, Merseyside
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Evangelical
Website	St Peter, Rock Ferry
History
Dedication	Saint Peter
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	28 March 1974
Architect(s)	Hurst and Moffatt
Architectural type	Church
Style	Neo-Norman, Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1841
Completed	c. 1884
Specifications
Materials	Sandstone, slate roofs
Administration
Parish	St Peter, Rock Ferry
Deanery	Birkenhead
Archdeaconry	Chester
Diocese	Chester
Province	York
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Chris Slater
Laity
Churchwarden(s)	Di Meacock, Frank Newman

St Peter's Church is in St Peter's Road, Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Birkenhead, the archdeaconry of Chester, and the diocese of Chester.^[1] The church is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.^[2]

History

St Peter's was built between 1841 and 1842, and designed by Hurst and Moffatt. The chancel was added in about 1884.^[3] The church was badly damaged by bombs during the Second World War. It was repaired, but did not re-open until 1958.^[4]

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in sandstone with slate roofs. The nave and steeple are in a variation of the Neo-Norman style, and the chancel is Gothic Revival. The plan consists of a six-bay nave, a chancel with a north organ chamber and a south vestry, and a west tower with a spire. The tower is in three stages with clasping buttresses and a west door. Above the door is a pair of round-headed windows under a segmental arch. In the top stage are triple bell openings. The cornice at the top of the tower has corner corbels carved with winged beasts. On the tower is a broach spire with lucarnes. Along the sides of the nave the bays are divided by square pilaster buttresses rising to fluted finials.^{[lower-alpha 1]} The windows are round-headed. On the sides of the chancel are two-light Decorated windows, and the east window consists of triple stepped lancets.^[2]

Interior

The interior of the church was refurbished after the war damage. A ceiling was added, and the interior was subdivided.^[3] The octagonal font of 1853 is panelled. The choir stalls and panelling in the chancel are dated 1884 and 1923.^[2] The stained glass in the east window dates from 1958 and depicts saints; it is by William Morris of Westminster.^[2][3] The pipe organ was built by Henry Willis. It originally had two manuals, and a choir section was added later by H. Ainscough.^[5] There is a ring of six bells, all of which were re-cast in 1914 by John Taylor & Co.^[6][7]

See also

• Listed buildings in Rock Ferry

Notes and references

Notes

1. In the Buildings of England series these are described as "like cottage loaves".^[3]

Citations

1. St Peter, Rock Ferry, Church of England, retrieved 24 December 2013
2. Historic England, "Church of St Peter, Birkenhead (1218851)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 24 December 2013
3. Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 159, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
4. St Peter, Rock Ferry, GENUKI, retrieved 24 December 2013
5. Cheshire Rock Ferry, St. Peter (N04407), British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 24 December 2013
6. Rock Ferry, S Peter, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, retrieved 24 December 2013
7. St Peter, Rock Ferry, Chester Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers, retrieved 24 December 2013

External links

Media related to St Peter's church, Rock Ferry at Wikimedia Commons