St Peter's Church is a

Roman Catholic 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 ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, England. It was built in 1924 and designed by

Frederick Walters Frederick Arthur Walters (5 February 1849–3 December 1931) was a Scottish architect working in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, notable for his Roman Catholic churches. Life Walters was born on 5 February 1849 at 6 South Terrace, Brompton, Lond ...

in the

Gothic revival style 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 ...

. It is situated on Jewry Street, backing onto St Peter's Street, next to Milner Hall, in the centre of Winchester. It is a Grade II listed building.

History

Foundation

After the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

there is recorded evidence of a Catholic community in Winchester. In 1575, Cardinal Allen wrote that there were sufficient Catholics in Winchester to constitute the only'district' in south England.

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

was said in My Lady West's House in Fishmonger Street between 1579 and 1583. The building is now the Royal Hotel. Later the house was owned by Roger Corham, he built a residence for a priest called St Peter's House. Above the ground floor of the residence was a chapel. From 1740, a separate chapel was built in the garden of the residence.Winchester – St Peter
from

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

, retrieved 16 July 2018 In 1779,

John Milner John David Milner (December 28, 1949 – January 4, 2000) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from to for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Montreal ...

, later Bishop Milner, became the resident priest in Winchester. In 1784, he paid for an extension to be built onto the chapel. Later, he rebuilt the chapel in the

. The architect was his friend John Carter and the chapel was consecrated on 5 December 1792. The building still exists, it is called Milner Hall, was restored in 1986 and acts as the parish hall next to the church.

Construction

In 1924, building work started on St Peter's Church. It was designed by

, who was the architect of many churches in south England. The church cost £23,000, was built by the Hussellwhite of Basingstoke construction firm and was opened on 15 July 1926. Twelve years later, on 22 September 1938, the church was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

Developments

The stained glass windows in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and south chapel were built by

Burlison and Grylls Burlison and Grylls is an English company who produced stained glass windows from 1868 onwards. The company of Burlison and Grylls was founded in 1868 at the instigation of the architects George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner. Both John Bur ...

. In the

lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

, the windows were designed by Arthur Edward Buss (1905–1999).A. E. Buss
from Stained Glass in Wales, retrieved 16 July 2018 In 1968, a presbytery was built next door to the church. In 1986, this presbytery became a parish centre when a new priest's residence was constructed elsewhere.

Parish

St Peter's Church is in the same parish as four other churches: St Gregory the Great Church in

New Alresford New Alresford or simply Alresford ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It is northeast of Winchester and southwest of the town of Alton, Hampshire, Al ...

has its Sunday Mass at 11:00am, St Margaret of Scotland Church in

Tichborne Tichborne is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish east of Winchester in Hampshire, England. History In archaeology in the south of the parish within the South Downs National Park is a bell barrow, bowl barrow and regular aggr ...

, St Stephen's Church in

Olivers Battery Oliver's Battery is a civil parish in Hampshire, England, of some 700 households located just to the south of the City of Winchester. The parish was formed in 1956 (in the then Winchester Rural District, and part of the City of Winchester Di ...

has its Sunday Mass at 9:15am and St Thomas More Church in Stockbridge has its Sunday Mass at 9:00am. Alresford - St Gregory The Great - geograph.org.uk - 1616467.jpg, St Gregory the Great Church, Alresford St Stephen's Church, Oliver's Battery - geograph.org.uk - 929655.jpg, St Stephen's Church in Olivers Battery St Thomas More, Stockbridge - geograph.org.uk - 1507075.jpg, St Thomas More Church, Stockbridge

References

External links

*
Parish website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's Church, Winchester

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

Roman Catholic churches in Hampshire Gothic Revival church buildings in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1926 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Grade II listed churches in Hampshire Gothic Revival architecture in Hampshire