St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church is a

Neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

-styled church built in 1901 in the small farming community of

Ashton, Wisconsin Ashton is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community located in the town of Springfield, Dane County, Wisconsin, Springfield, in Dane County, Wisconsin, Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The community was named after Thomas Ashton, the ...

in the town of Springfield, Dane County, Wisconsin. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980. The first settler in the area around St. Peter's arrived in 1848, from Bavaria. In subsequent years, more immigrants arrived from

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and Alsace-Lorraine. Many of these people were German

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, and they established a local parish, constructing their first church building in 1861. With In 1867 they added a Catholic school, which closed in 2024. The school building is now rented to a Catholic

Montessori The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...

school named Divine Mercy Academy. By 1901 the parish needed a new church building. Anton Dohman of Milwaukee designed the current building and J.H. Owens of Mazomanie contracted the masonry work. The walls are built of coursed

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

quarried from local farms. The front doors are at the base of a tall centered

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...

. Above the door is a

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

, then three

lancet windows A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

, then a louvered

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

, then an octagonal spire, then a

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

. Small

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

s project from the sides and a large apse from the back. Limestone

buttresses A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act a ...

divide the wall surfaces. The main roof is still covered by its original

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. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

shingles. Inside, the nave contains two rows of oak pews, leading to the pinnacled altar in the apse on the south end. In the

spandrels A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame, between the tops of two adjacent arches, or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fil ...

above the altar is a

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

depicting

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

and his disciples. To the sides are a carved wood

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

and

lecterns A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of ...

. One side apse contains a

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

and the other a

grotto A grotto or grot is a natural or artificial cave or covered recess. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden fea ...

. The complex includes a two-story brick school/convent and a Queen Anne-styled rectory built in 1906, but neither building is included in the NRHP nomination. St. Peter's school, built in 1867, was the ''only'' school in Ashton until a public school opened in 1920. Today the church building remains the only prominent building in the small community, and the steeple is visible for miles over the surrounding farmlands. They are part of the Holy Cross Catholic Parish along with four other nearby churches in Middleton, Martinsville, Cross Plains, and Pine Bluff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's Roman Catholic Church (Ashton, Wisconsin) Churches in Dane County, Wisconsin Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison National Register of Historic Places in Dane County, Wisconsin Roman Catholic churches completed in 1901 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States