Description

701/3/13 ST PETERS SQUARE
07-JUL-08 (Centre of)
PARISH CHURCH OF ST PETER

(Formerly listed as:
ST PETERSGATE
PARISH CHURCH OF ST PETER)

II
Anglican church. 1768 at sole expense of William Wright of Mottram Hall, Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire. Brick in Flemish bond with rubbed brick and stone dressings. Slate roof with copper roof to bell turret dome. 1888 phase in Accrington brick in Flemish bond with slate roof.

PLAN: Original plan was rectangular, with a W end porch tower flanked by W end vestries, and a shallow communion apse at E end. Inside was a pulpit placed centrally in front of the communion table. West gallery inserted in 1782. In 1838 side galleries were added. The 1880s phase added a larger apsidal chancel, removed the side galleries, original pulpit and box pews, and added low vestry blocks to the NE and SE. c.1920 NE Lady Chapel.

EXTERIOR: Nave has moulded stone cornice that returns round the W end. Round-headed nave windows with timber Y tracery, rubbed brick arches, and stone imposts and keystones. The tower is square to the lower two stages with a domed octagonal bell turret. Round-headed W doorway with triple keystone and pilaster imposts. 3 square-headed brick recesses over, with a Venetian window above in second stage, the central light glazed with a small-pane window with intersecting glazing bars in the head, and louvers to the outer openings. Venetian windows to the N and S sides blocked. Bell turret has square-headed louvred windows, partly boarded up, with clock face on E side. 1768 SW vestry block has hipped lean-to roof with a round-headed window with Y tracery, and a brick stack rising from the W wall of the nave. Similar NW vestry has been rebuilt slightly larger than the original with a hipped slate roof and a large round-headed W window. 1880s vestries abutting the nave at the E end are low brick structures with parapets and round-headed windows. Apsidal chancel has a moulded brick cornice and high-set round-headed windows and pilasters above a moulded brick stringcourse. Foundation stone dated 1888 set into the wall. 1920s Lady Chapel also with apsidal E end.

INTERIOR: Groin-vaulted vestibule in W tower with a plaster rose in centre. On S side is doorway leading to gallery staircase with splat balusters. Corresponding space on N side converted to kitchens etc. Double doors, part-glazed, with rectangular overlights, into nave (now opening into screened-off coffee shop and social area). Nave has flat plaster ceiling with a moulded cornice and moulded plaster roundels for former light fittings. Windows have plaster hoodmoulds with leaf terminations. Nave/chancel division defined by plastered cross beam with plain imposts. W end gallery of 1782 with timber panelled front with plain pilasters with acanthus leaf detail at bases, and a central shield with the keys of St Peter. Late-C20 partition beneath the gallery separating the space off from the rest of the nave. Late C18 marble baluster font with quatrefoil bowl upon a stem of clustered shafts with water-leaf capitals in SW corner. 1880s low stone chancel screen with wrought iron cresting and gates, integral with pulpit which has polygonal stone base and wrought iron sides. Fielded panelling lining lower half of sanctuary apse. Reredos with a C20 painting in a timber frame with strapwork cresting. 1880s altar with painted blind arcading. Choir stalls with concave shoulders and pierced friezes to the back and to the frontals. 1880s benches with sunk panels to ends. E wall of NE Lady Chapel is lined with similar panelling to that in the sanctuary apse. Late C18 and C19 wall monuments include one to the founder, William Wright of Mottram Hall, d.1770. The marble wall plaque is crowned by a draped urn and an obelisk. Stained glass in apse windows by Carponnier.

HISTORY: A c.1780 view of Stockport shows the church sited on open ground on the outskirts of the old town, and the town subsequently grew and evolved round it. It was built as a chapel of ease by William Wright, Lord of the Manor of Offerton and Mottram St Andrew, whose town house was the Mansion House on High Street. The road of St Petersgate is said to have been constructed by him as a convenient route between his house and the church. In 1838 St Peter's was made a parish church.

SOURCES
Raymond Richards, `Old Cheshire Churches' (1973), 312-14
H Heginbotham, `Stockport Ancient and Modern', Vol 1 (1882), 328-31
Author unknown, `The Parish Church of Saint Peter, Stockport, Historical Notes' (date unknown, published by the church).

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION
The Church of St Peter, Stockport, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Built in 1768, it is a typical Georgian `auditory' church of plain brick construction with simple classical detailing, with addition of sympathetically designed C19 apsidal chancel
* Good-quality C18 fixtures and fittings include a small marble font, a west gallery, and wall memorials, though the completeness of the original architectural and decorative ensemble is compromised due to the C19 replacement of the pulpit and box pews

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St Peter's Church, Stockport at Wikipedia
• St Peter's Church, Stockport official website
• Wikidata Q7595291

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
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  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)