More About St Peters

St. Peter’s Parish Church stands at the western extremity of the town. It was built in 1821 and cost £14,000 whcih was paid for by the Parliamentary Commissioners and parishioners. The first stone was laid on the 24th October, 1821, by the Right Rev. George Henry Law, Lord Bishop of Chester, and the church was consecrated on the 12th December, 1824.

The building is of the decorated style of architecture, and forms a “perfect model of lightness, combined with elegance, in the commanding Gothic style, and may justly challenge competition with some of the first structures of this kind in the kingdom.”

The Church is surrounded by a spacious graveyard, which was presented by Lord Stamford.

The interior is decorated by several beautiful stained-glass windows, the eastern gable possessing a beautiful circular window. There are others in different parts of the Church in memonam of local benefactors. Beneath the south gallery is one dedicated to the memory of Mr. Earnshaw, representing the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem; and another to the memory of Mrs. Sarah Kershaw, representing Simeon in the Temple rejoicing on beholding the infant Christ. A third, representing the transfiguration, is in memory of the Rev. ThomasParkes, a former curate at the Parish Church. This Church also has many mementoes of the late George Heginbottom, Esq. In the month of December, 1871, a peal of eight bells, also the gift of G. Heginbottom, Esq., was placed in the tower. There were orignally 683 sittings.

More recently, the church has been remodelled providing a flexible space for worship and other activities.