Description

John Henderson, 1853 (nave). George Henderson, 1881 (chancel and south aisle). Simple oblong Early English church, with projecting gabled entrance porch and long chancel. Aisle and vestry to south. Squared whin rubble with droved buff sandstone ashlar dressings. Base course, moulded eaves course to chancel. Single lancets to nave, plate tracery to chancel. Hood-moulded geometric east window. Altar by Robert Lorimer (c1920)

NORTH (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: buttressed 4-bay nave with entrance porch to right; pointed arch on colonettes, cast iron gates. 2-bay recessed chancel to left.

Leaded glazing. Purple slate roof with ashlar skews and cruciform finials. Corniced stack to aisle. Copper-hooded bell to exterior of aisle.

INTERIOR: open timber roof: braced collar-beams to chancel, arched braces to nave. Semicircular nave arcade on cylindrical piers. Exposed stone chancel and aisle arches. Altar, pulpit and organ-case with timber tracery. Variety of stained glass. Carved stone baptismal font.

BOUNDARY WALLS AND RAILINGS: whin rubble boundary walls to south and west. Sandstone dwarf walls with cast iron railings and ashlar gatepiers.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such (2005). B-group with the former St Peter's School and former hall. St Peter's church is a notable example of a simple mid-19th century Episcopal church, with good interior details, such as the altar by Robert Lorimer. The simplicity of the church reflects contemporary practice in Episcopal church building. Situated on a rise, the church makes a significant statement on a main road into Galashiels and forms an important group with the church halls and the Episcopal school.

The design and layout of this church in an Early English style relates to a series of Episcopal Gothic Revival Churches carried out in the south of Scotland in the mid 19th century. The style reflects the ideals of the Ecclesiological movement in English Episcopal churches. Similar churches are at St John's Jedburgh and Holy Trinity, Melrose. John Henderson, who designed the original church and George Henderson, who carried out the extensions, were both prolific designers of churches, particularly for the Episcopalian church. At the time St Peter's was built John Henderson was the foremost designer of these Tractarian Churches in Scotland.

The church also reflects the continued diversification of the population of Galashiels through the 19th century. This congregation originated in a mission in the lower flat of a house in Wilderhaugh in 1851. In June 1853 the foundation stone was laid for the new church, which was consecrated in August 1854. This original church had a short chancel with a vestry on the south side. In 1881 the chancel was extended considerably. A new south aisle with a separate pitched roof and an east-facing window was added, as well as a larger lean-to vestry.

In 1881 the Episcopal school was added to the north by Hay and Henderson, who also added the free-standing halls to the west in 1889. More recently, the south aisle has been divided off to form a hall to replace the large hall, now in separate ownership (2005).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56633766

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.

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