St Peter's Church is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church in

Eype Eype ( ) is a small village in southwest Dorset, England, situated southwest of Bridport. It lies on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site on the English Channel and is within the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Symondsbury. Eype m ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England. Built in 1864–65, the church now also serves as an arts venue, known as the Eype Centre for the Arts.

History

St Peter's was built as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

to St. John the Baptist at

Symondsbury Symondsbury () is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, west of Bridport and west of Dorchester. The A35 road runs through the parish to the south of the village. The village has a pub (the Ilchester Arms), a pottery and ...

, with £3,000 of its cost having been bequeathed by the rector, Rev. Gregory Raymond, who died in 1863. His successor, Rev. Henry Rawlinson, continued efforts to build a church at Eype. A plot of land on a hilltop above Eype was donated by Mr. Syndercombe Bower, which allowed the church to also serve the inhabitants Watton and part of Bridport Harbour. The foundation stone was laid on 28 May 1864 by the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...

Walter Kerr Hamilton Walter Kerr Hamilton (16 November 1808 – 1 August 1869) was a Church of England priest, Bishop of Salisbury from 1854 until his death. Biography He was born on 16 November 1808, educated at Eton College, tutored by Thomas Arnold, and then att ...

. Plans for the church were drawn up by the architect Talbot Bury of London who supervised its construction. The builder was Mr. George Swaffield of Shipton Gorge, with all carpentry and woodwork carried out by Mr. George G. Hayward of

Burton Bradstock Burton Bradstock is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, approximately southeast of Bridport and inland from the English Channel at Chesil Beach. In the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census the parish had a population of 948. The ...

. Mr. W. K. Brown of

Bridport Bridport is a market town and civil parish in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the River Asker, Asker. Its origins are Anglo-Saxons, Saxon and it has a long history as a ...

undertook plumbing, painting and decorative work. The completed church was consecrated by the Bishop of Salisbury on 24 August 1865.

Eype Centre for the Arts

In the face of a declining congregation, work was carried out at the church in 2002–03 to give it an additional role as an arts venue and it opened in 2003 as the Eype Centre for the Arts. The project was the idea of Rev. Dr. Ray Shorthouse, who believed the new dual role of the church would secure its long-term future. The £250,000 alteration cost was sourced from the local Walbridge Trust and the church is now regularly used to hold concerts, exhibitions and other events. In 2010, the church was used by

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...

for the recording of her eighth studio album ''

Let England Shake ''Let England Shake'' is the eighth studio album by the English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on 14 February 2011 by Island Records. Production began around the time of '' White Chalk''s release in 2007, though it is a depart ...

''. She told ''Bridport News'': "I remembered that the man who now runs this church as an arts venue had said to me a few times if I'd ever wanted to use it for a show or rehearsals that he'd love that, and that's when I approached him and asked if we could use it."

Architecture

St Peter's was built of local stone from Symondsbury and

Bothenhampton Bothenhampton is a village in the civil parish of Bridport, in southwest Dorset, England, just outside the town of Bridport. It is separated from the town only by the River Asker and the A35 Bridport by-pass. In the 2011 census the civil parish ...

, with its windows, doors and arches dressed in

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

. The

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

church was designed to accommodate 300 persons and built with a

cruciform plan A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

, containing a nave, chancel, sacristy, north and south transepts and a south porch. A tower was intended for the church, however limited funds prompted the construction of a bell turret on the western end of the roof instead.

References

External links

Eype Centre for the Arts website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's Church, Eype Churches in Dorset Church of England church buildings in Dorset