St Peter's Church is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Scotland. It was built from 1803 and opened in 1804. It is situated on Justice Street between Peacock's Close and Market Stance, next to St Andrew's Cathedral in the centre of the city. It was the first permanent Roman Catholic Church to be built in Aberdeen after the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

and is a category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

Foundation

In 1774, a small chapel was built on the site of the present church. It was on the ground floor of a house and had a residence above it. The resident priest there was the Vicar Apostolic of the Lowland District, James Grant. In July 1795, Fr Charles Gordon became the resident priest in Aberdeen.St Peter's
from Scalan.co.uk, retrieved 12 January 2016

Construction

In early 1803, materials and funds for the construction of a church were collected by Fr Gordon. The chapel became too small for the increasing Catholic population of the city and a new, larger church needed to be built. On 24 February 1803, digging started on the site. On 15 April 1803, the foundation stone was laid by Fr Gordon. He estimated that the total cost of the church would be £1,049. It was designed by the architect James Massie in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

. The first

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

was said in the next building on 13 November 1803. Construction continued on the site until August 1804. On 19 August 1804, the church was dedicated by the Vicar Apostolic of the Lowland District, Alexander Cameron. In 1815, a gallery was added to the church. In 1817, the church facade was finished. It was designed by Harry Leith. From 1895 to 1899, the

High altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

was installed in the church. It was designed and built in Belgium.

Closure and reopening

In 1860, the church was closed, because St Mary's Cathedral had opened. For the proceeding two years, the church was used as a chapel for a nearby boys' school. In 1862, the presbytery became a 'home for the aged and infirm' run by a group of religious sisters from Hammersmith. In 1872, the church was closed again. In 1880, it finally re-opened.

Parish

Within the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

is the Catholic Chaplaincy of the University of Aberdeen. Sunday Mass for the chaplaincy is at 6:30pm in the university's King's College Chapel. There are two Sunday Masses in St Peter's Church: 6:00pm on Saturday and 11:30am on Sunday.Parishes
from

Diocese of Aberdeen Diocese of Aberdeen was one of the 13 (14, after 1633) dioceses of the Scottish church, before the abolition of the episcopacy in 1689. Early history A see was founded in 1063 at Mortlach by Blessed Beyn. The earliest mention of the See of ...

, retrieved 12 January 2016

References

External links

St Peter's Parish site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aberdeen, Saint Peter

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

Listed Roman Catholic churches in Scotland Category B listed buildings in Aberdeenshire Roman Catholic churches completed in 1817 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom 1803 establishments in Scotland Gothic Revival church buildings in Scotland